Deliberated
by PurpleCardi
Summary: Sequel to Disillusioned. Four years after their divorce, Jane and Maura attempt the reconciliation process.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who voted on whether or not Disillusioned should have a sequel. Many of you wanted something a little more detail oriented and I hope this doesn't disappoint. I can't say whether or not there will be any fluff because I don't want to give anything away yet, but I promise this won't be an all-out Jane vs. Maura battle like the last one.**

* * *

When Maura booked a flight to Boston for Chloe and herself, her only intentions were to spend time with her mother. Six months had passed since Chloe had seen her grandmother—their only form of communication in the meantime being phone calls and Skype—and Maura knew they were due for a visit. Her mother had been attentive to Chloe since the day Maura had adopted her and, although Maura had wished she were attentive and nurturing during her own childhood, she was grateful that what her mother didn't do for her, she was now doing for Chloe.

Being a single mother sometimes took its toll on Maura and it left her little time for dating, not that Maura would spend any of her spare time on dates or have intimate encounters with other women. There _were _women in Maura's life—many of them—but they had no romantic inclinations whatsoever. Unlike in Boston, Maura had a group of friends in Los Angeles that gave her all of the emotional support and even parenting advice that she needed. While their children were playing, save for Chloe who would spend most of her time on Maura's lap because she was afraid to play with other children, they would socialize over mocktails and appetizers prepared by whichever woman happened to be the host for the afternoon. Although Maura enjoyed her new social outlet, she occasionally felt as if she were on the periphery. Her friends had husbands or wives and, as the only single woman in the group, Maura would be subjected to endless chatter about how she should start dating again. Maura would respond by saying she didn't have time to date because of work and if she did have free time she preferred to spend it with Chloe. They'd all accept the answer because Maura _did _work a lot and she _did _prefer to spend her free time with Chloe, but they knew there was something Maura was leaving out: she was still in love with her ex-wife and she always would be. Her friends knew all about her marriage to Jane and what had happened between them, but they'd still never pass up an opportunity to tell Maura she needed to move on with her life.

For four years, Maura went to bed with a memory. Fragments of her years with Jane would fill her mind—each night something new—until there was nothing left for her to remember. When that happened, she'd detach herself from the memories and view them in the third-person perspective. They were her experiences, her joyful moments, and her mistakes, but Maura felt as if she were watching someone else. There were moments that made her laugh, moments that made her cry, and moments in which, if it was an actual movie instead of her memories, she would have yelled at the screen and asked the main characters what they were doing. To cheer herself up, she'd imagine reconciling with Jane. The scenarios were always different, but they all had the same objective: she'd be Jane's wife again. Although the reconciliation scenarios offered a temporary distraction, Maura would eventually face the realities of an empty bed and 2,500 miles between her and the woman she loved. They were no longer in the same time zone, let alone the same bedroom. She'd never admit it to her friends, but Maura had Boston bookmarked on her phone's weather app for the sole purpose of knowing what the weather was like where Jane was. She remembered holding hands in the park on sunny days and how Jane had proposed to her in the rain, but her favorite were the blizzards. Being snowed in meant spending the entire day making love and cuddling with each other. There was always the possibility that Jane was having similar moments with a new woman and all Maura could do was hope that Jane at least held onto the memories of the two of them and thought about Maura from time-to-time.

There was hardly any deviation in the weather where Maura currently resided, but on the rare occasion that it _did _rain, Maura had a new reason to enjoy the weather. On rainy days, Maura would set aside time to be outdoors with Chloe. She'd dress her daughter in jeans, a rain coat, and rain boots so she could enjoy her favorite rainy day activity: splashing in puddles that formed on the sidewalk in front of their apartment building. When it was time to go inside, Maura would make hot chocolate for her little girl and spend the rest of the day reading to Chloe and telling her facts about rain and thunder that were age-appropriate for a toddler.

Although the three-year-old was too young to understand, Chloe Jane Isles was the one who had saved Maura. She missed Jane every moment of every day, but being Chloe's mom had pulled Maura out of her depression. Her daughter's existence, alone, had given her hope for the future. They had both been abandoned by their birthparents when they were babies and, unlike her own adoptive mother, Maura was going to give Chloe all the love and nurturing she needed. Maura didn't give birth to Chloe, but that didn't lessen the connection she felt as Chloe's mother. From the moment she brought her home, Chloe became her priority. Even if she couldn't be with Chloe around the clock, she made sure her daughter knew she was only a phone call away and _that_ night was no different.

After driving her rental car into the parking lot of the agreed upon location, she examined her appearance in the mirror. Maura was now past her prime, but she was still considered a beautiful woman. Four years had passed since her divorce with Jane, which meant four years of growing older, but none of that seemed to matter to Jane when they were reunited at Boston Common. Both of them had gotten older, but Maura knew it was something to look forward to if she were able to grow old with Jane. Just the thought of bickering with each other as elderly women filled Maura's heart with comfort.

They were catching up over drinks—it wasn't a date and there were still issues they needed to address, but Maura hoped this was a start toward the reconciliation process. She loved Jane and Jane loved her, which is what Maura kept in mind as she stepped out of her car and prepared to face the woman she had spent the past four years pining over.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks so much for your comments on the first chapter. I've finally gotten a tumblr although I don't really know how to use it. haha. My username is amandalovestoloveherloves. Add me and teach me how to be a proper fangirl. It'd be greatly appreciated. :)**

* * *

Jane had arrived at the bar early to reserve a table for the two of them. As she looked around at the bar patrons, she began to question whether or not she should have chosen this location. Jane and Maura were two grown women who were attempting to reconnect after four years of living on opposite ends of the country and they were going to be surrounded by drunk college kids and post-grads meeting with old friends after a long work week. There was pitcher after pitcher of beer being served and shots being pounded. When the noise level went up, Jane knew it was time to leave.

As she walked out into the parking lot, she realized why she had chosen that particular bar. It held no memories for the two of them and there was no chance of them running into anybody they knew. Jane hadn't told anyone she was meeting with Maura because she was well aware of what they would say. Her family had loved Maura as one of their own, but when they found out what had _really _happened between the two of them, their immediate reaction was concern for Jane's emotional well-being followed by utter contempt for Maura for leaving Jane in her time of need.

She was stepping out of her rental car when Jane set eyes on her that evening. She looked beautiful—she was _always _beautiful—but there was something about the way she looked at that moment that made Jane just want to give in to her. Maura didn't dress as glamorous as she did when they were married and Jane wondered if that was because of motherhood. Instead of focusing on herself, she now had a little girl to watch over. Chloe was at an age where she needed Maura's constant attention and Jane figured that probably left her little time to worry about dressing like she belonged on a runway. There was either that, or LA had taken its toll on her and she had a new sense of style that was more common in the west coast.

"Maura!" Jane called out. "Stay right there." She quickened her pace as she made her way over to Maura's car.

As soon as they were standing face-to-face, Maura wrapped her arms around Jane just as she did when they were at the park. Jane had missed the way it felt to hold Maura. She missed her scent, she missed the softness of her hair—she missed the way they just fit together so perfectly. Jane missed everything about this woman and it bothered her that she couldn't share this moment with anyone. Seeing Maura would have to remain a secret until she prepared herself for an intervention from her family.

"Why are you outside?" Maura asked as they remained in their embrace.

"This place just isn't where I imagined our reunion," Jane pointed out. "Can we sit in your car instead?"

Maura unlocked the doors so the two of them could enter the backseat. _I'm sneaking around with her __**and **__I'm in the backseat of her car now. This is getting seedier by the moment._

"I really shouldn't be here," Jane confessed once they were seated comfortably in the backseat. Instead of holding each other as they did outside, the two of them were now sitting as far apart as they could possibly get, both knowing the initial happiness of their reunion was over and it was now time to talk about more serious matters.

"Why is that?"

"My family wanted me to be rid of you," Jane told her. "They were glad you moved to LA because that way I could move on with my life. As you can see, that's been working out perfectly. It's been four years and 2500 miles and I haven't gotten over you and I don't think another four years and being on separate _continents _would help."

Maura averted her eyes. "How much did you tell them?"

"Everything," Jane scoffed. "I told them about what Sam did to me and how I lied to you about it, how you said you understood what I was going through and then you ended up sleeping with some other woman before returning to our marital bed. They know all of it. I needed someone on my side because _you_ were no longer there for me."

"And now they feel contempt for me," Maura said almost to herself.

"Tommy says he could probably forgive you someday if we were to get back together, but that's only because he saw how much you were crying when you thought I cheated on you. Frankie never wants to see you again and you don't want to know how my mom feels about you."

"Besides Chloe, you're all I think about," Maura admitted. "You're my first thought each morning and my last thought each night. For four years I've regretted what I did to you and I'm not asking you to take me back—not yet—but I don't want us to give up."

She knew it wasn't a bold move, but Jane still hesitated to grab Maura's hand. There were several moments of awkward silence while Jane gathered her thoughts and worked up the nerve to hold Maura's hand. The moment their fingers were intertwined, memories of their life together started flooding her mind. Maura still _felt _the same, but was she the same? "I'm not sure what I want," Jane said to her. "When I first saw you in the park, I was overwhelmed and all I wanted was to hold you for as long as I could, but four years have passed, Maura—four years of you not being my woman and of me not even seeing you. What if we've changed? What if we don't really know who the other is anymore?"

"We can get to know each other," Maura said, trying not to sound as if she was pleading with Jane. "You can visit me in LA. I can visit you in Boston. It may not be as often as we'd like, but we can still communicate with each other in between visits."

"Maura, no," Jane insisted. "I'm not engaging in some bi-coastal affair with you. I love you and, as much as I love you, I need time to adjust to you being in my life again. We can talk to each other on the phone, but I'm not ready to drop everything and fly to LA to spend time with you. When we were in the park, I told you we aren't going to fall into place right away and I meant that."

"I understand," Maura said solemnly. "We put each other through hell four years ago and it's wrong for me to expect you to be mine again. I have to say goodbye now."

"Maura—"

"I want to be with Chloe," Maura interrupted. "It's getting late and she probably can't sleep."

"She's with your mother," Jane pointed out. "I'm sure she's fine."

"She can't sleep unless I tuck her in. It was nice seeing you again, Jane. Enjoy the rest of your night."

Jane took that as her cue to step out of Maura's car. "Maura, we'll go somewhere together tomorrow," Jane suggested. "You can bring Chloe. I wanna spend time with Maura Jr."

"We're flying back to LA tomorrow morning," Maura informed her.

"You're leaving Boston already?" Jane asked in disbelief.

"Chloe starts preschool the day after tomorrow and I want to make sure she's well-rested."

"She's three," Jane pointed out. "Isn't she a little young?"

"They accepted her a year early," Maura bragged. "She's the only three-year-old to ever pass their interview."

Jane just smiled at her. "Congratulations on raising a miniature Maura."

"Thank you," Maura said in return. "I'm sorry I had to cut our evening short."

"I understand," Jane insisted. "You're a mommy now."

There was one final hug before the two of them parted ways. Since Maura had ended their evening early, Jane was left to think the rest of the night. Maura was a mom now and she had a new life that Jane wasn't part of. She _could _be part of it—Maura would love it if she were—but Jane still wasn't sure where she stood. She knew she loved Maura and she'd always love Maura, but she had to decide whether she was in love with Maura or just the memory of who she once was.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks so much for the fic love. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's a little different from the others, but different in a good way? Yes? No? Maybe so? :)**

* * *

After a short, but memorable trip to Boston, Maura was ready to return to her apartment in LA. As Chloe slept during their cab ride to the airport, Maura spent her time reflecting on what had happened between her and Jane the night before. Their encounter at the park had given her hope, but spending time with Jane in the car had diminished what hope she had for the two of them to get back together anytime soon. Jane was still focused on what had happened before their divorce and during their separation. She had expected Maura to be the same woman she was when they were happily married and, although she was the same deep down, her life had changed so drastically since then. Even if they got back together, Jane would no longer be her only priority; Chloe was her priority now and—maybe Jane was right—maybe they weren't ready for some bi-coastal affair regardless of how much they loved each other. It wasn't how Maura actually felt, but she wanted to make herself believe she could cope without Jane.

Maura was dreading the five-hour non-stop flight from Boston Logan to LAX. She had always considered non-stop flights to be the most convenient, but that wasn't the case now that she had a three-year-old. Chloe rarely misbehaved, but sitting down for long periods of time always made her feel restless, so Maura had a special tote bag made for Chloe that she could fill with books and activities to keep herself _and _Maura occupied on long flights. Maura loved spending time with her little girl, but she was especially grateful that Chloe was her flight companion that day because reading to Chloe and coloring with her on the way home meant less time to focus on what had gone wrong with Jane.

When the cab pulled into the terminal, Maura gently woke up her sleepy little girl. She had luggage to pull and a carry-on bag, so she hoped Chloe would be able to walk on her own instead of Maura having to hold her.

"Chloe Jane, wake up, sweetie."

"No," Chloe said as she rubbed her eyes. "Hold me, Mommy."

"Mommy can't hold you right now," Maura regretted to say to her daughter. "I need you to be a big girl and walk for a little while. Can you do that for Mommy?"

Before Chloe could answer Maura's question, the two of them heard a knock on the window. _Jane? _She was standing there; the way she looked was reminiscent of the woman she used to know. There was so much love in her eyes and her smile was one that, in the past, had been all-too-familiar for Maura. It was the smile that Maura and Maura alone could inspire.

Without giving it a second thought, Maura quickly opened the door and wrapped her arms around Jane. She didn't know if it was too much too soon and in that moment she didn't care; she held onto Jane as tightly as she could for reassurance that she was actually there. Her scent, the faint sound of her breathing, the delicate kiss on Maura's cheek; it was real, it was _actually _real. "What are you doing here?" Maura asked.

"Your meter is still running," Jane brought to her attention.

"My meter," Maura said as she frantically looked for her wallet.

"I'll get this." She pulled her wallet from her back pocket and took out two twenty-dollar bills to cover Maura's thirty-dollar cab ride. As Maura was getting Chloe out of the cab, Jane decided to help Maura with her luggage. Maura had her hands full with her little girl, so Jane rolled their luggage with one hand and carried Chloe and Maura's carry-on with the other.

"You never answered my question," Maura reminded her.

"I just thought I'd help you with your luggage," Jane said nonchalantly.

"I want the truth, Jane."

"I'm in love with you," Jane confessed. "And I don't know where this is going, but I have to take a chance on getting to know you again and getting to know this little one." She took her hand off the luggage handle and unexpectedly tickled Chloe, which caused Maura's daughter to start giggling uncontrollably.

"She's fully awake now," Maura said as she smiled at Jane. "I'll keep in mind that all she needs is to be tickled when I want to wake her up."

"You can use that trick tomorrow morning when she goes to s-c-h-o-o-l."

"School?" Chloe asked with a terrified expression on her face. "No!"

"She can spell," Maura brought to Jane's attention.

"She can _spell_?" Jane asked in disbelief.

"I try to teach her new words everyday," Maura pointed out. "Jane, how did you know where to find me?"

Jane smirked. "I don't know. I might have called your mom."

"You braved talking to my mother?"

"I couldn't let you leave without seeing you again," Jane said as she glanced at the woman she loved.

The two of them made small talk and played with Chloe as they waited in line for Maura to check her luggage in. She was surprised by how Chloe had taken to Jane so quickly. _Jane with a child. _It was the life they had always wanted, but weren't quite ready for at the time. Once her luggage had been checked-in, Jane and Maura knew their goodbyes were inevitable. They both wanted more time together, but those words remained unspoken. Maura had a flight to catch and the moment she walked past security, it would be another step toward the two of them being on opposite ends of the country. She wasn't sure when she'd see Jane again, so she put Chloe down for a moment so she could feel Jane's arms around her.

Maura had expected another kiss on the cheek, so she was taken by surprise when Jane leaned in and pressed her lips to hers. It was a chaste kiss that Maura turned into a series of kisses for the sake of prolonging the moment they were sharing. Four years. It had been four years since she had felt the softness of Jane's lips and the possessiveness with which Jane kissed her. Even during their most innocent of kisses, Jane had a way of possessing Maura and letting her know that she was the only woman she desired.

"Yucky!" Chloe shouted as she covered her eyes. "Kissing is yucky! Mommy, why are you kissing?"

"Because I love you," Maura whispered into Jane's ear.

Not wanting to keep their eyes off of Chloe for too long, Jane and Maura released each other from their embrace. "I love you, too," Jane responded. "Have a safe flight and try not to think about me too much."

"You're _already _thinking about me," Maura quipped.

Maura spent her time on the plane coloring with her daughter, grateful that Chloe had forgotten about her kiss with Jane. There were so many questions her daughter was going to ask _in time_ and Maura knew she would have to pick and choose what she was willing to tell her daughter. For now, there was Chloe's first day of preschool and that brief moment with Jane to keep Maura's mind occupied.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the morning of her daughter's first day of preschool and Maura was trying her hardest to keep herself fully composed. Her little girl was growing up right before her eyes and, although she was only three-years-old, she knew the years would fly by and it wouldn't be long before her daughter was starting kindergarten, and then junior high and high school. After that would be college and, if Maura had any say in the matter, Chloe would go to medical school.

For as long as Maura had been Chloe's mother, she wanted to inspire a passion for learning in her daughter. Maura found a way to turn even their most mundane chores and errands into educational activities. When they went grocery shopping, Maura would list the items they would buy so Chloe could learn about identification. While they folded their laundry, Maura would teach her about shapes and colors. Chloe enjoyed all of the activities her mom created for her, but her favorite activities were all science related like making fossilized handprints to see how much her hands have grown and making edible play dough that the two of them would mold into different shapes. Chloe was also fascinated with Bass and her favorite pastime was taking care of him and listening to her mom's daily facts about tortoises. It was Chloe's responsibility to feed Bass and doing so made her feel like a big girl because she played such an important role in the caretaking of her best friend.

Chloe's closet had been divided into two sections with yellow hangers on clothes she could wear on hot days and blue hangers for clothes she could wear on cold days. Maura did this to give Chloe independence and help her with decision-making skills. Chloe always chose what she wanted to wear with just a little intervening from Maura. For her first day of school, she had chosen a pink and white checkered sundress with white sandals. Maura had made numerous attempts at putting her daughter's hair in pigtails, but each time Chloe complained about the rubber bands being too tight for her, so Maura decided to let her hair hang down.

After Chloe had finished breakfast and her lunch had been packed carefully into her personalized lunchbox, the two of them were on their way to Chloe's new school. When they arrived, Maura was elated to find her best friend Pam amongst the crowd of parents saying tearful goodbyes to their children.

"Can you believe these people?" Pam asked Maura. "It's just preschool. We aren't shipping them off to Harvard yet. Don't tell me you're going to cry."

"I want to cry for her, not for myself," Maura pointed out. "I worry about the other kids teasing her or whether or not she'll be afraid to play with them."

"She's in good hands," Pam said reassuringly. "She has my little Mackenzie and I'm sure their teacher won't let anything happen to either of them. Do you girls want to go play now?"

"Yeah!" Mackenzie said excitedly. "C'mon, Chloe."

Chloe glanced at Mackenzie and then looked back at Maura as if she was deciding what she should do. She then held her arms out for Maura to pick her up. "I love you, Mommy."

"I love you, too, Chloe Jane," Maura responded. She was trying not to cry because she knew if she started crying her daughter would have a similar reaction. "You have my number in your phone. Just press the blue button if you need me for anything." Maura had always thought three-year-olds were too young to have phones, but it was commonplace in their neighborhood, so Maura decided to buy one for Chloe that could only dial two numbers: her mom's and her grandma's.

"Okay, Mommy," Chloe said before squirming to let her mom know she wanted to play.

"Bye, girls," Pam called out, but the girls had already started running to the swings.

Maura's new best friend Pam was what most people would consider a stereotypical Bel-Air housewife. As the wife of an entertainment lawyer, she had never worked a day in her life and she spent most of her time shopping on Rodeo Drive and attending galas and dinners with her husband and his clients. Her hair color was artificial as were her breasts and her nose, but what mattered to Maura was that her personality was genuine. She never lacked for material possessions, but Pam was still a grounded and kind-hearted woman.

The two of them had met at a café on Rodeo Drive just days after Maura had moved to Los Angeles. She was still heartbroken and wondering if she had made the right decision. There were slightly over a dozen people at the café, but that didn't matter to Maura. She could no longer hold back her tears and she started crying in front of everyone while she sat at a table by herself. That's when Pam excused herself from the group she was with and pulled up a chair next to Maura. The two of them talked for an hour about Jane and how different Los Angeles was from Boston. Before Pam left, the two of them had exchanged phone numbers and had been best friends ever since.

"How was Boston?" Pam asked as they watched their girls play on the swings before school started.

Before Maura could even answer her question, she heard the sound of their friend Michelle approaching them. She had just dropped off her son Jayden and they were surprised that she had decided to drop him off instead of making her wife do the honors. "Hey, bitches," Michelle said after she wedged her way in between them.

"You've surfaced," Pam said sarcastically. "And you're sober."

Their friend Michelle was the less talked about aspect of the Bel-Air housewife stereotype. Her wife was a producer and the only time they were together was when they were forced to make appearances at the same galas Pam and her husband would attend. The rest of Michelle's time was spent shopping, drinking, and screwing every woman she possibly could. Michelle and her wife had once loved each other and Maura wondered what had happened to their loving relationship that had caused Michelle to start acting the way she was, but Pam had told her not to bring up the subject because nobody knew and nobody would ever know. Michelle was no more than arm candy for her wife and she was given free rein to have affairs as long as she was discreet about it in public. She had once tried to seduce Maura after Pam had introduced them to each other, but Maura rejected her advances. Michelle was upset at first. "No woman ever turns me down," she had told Maura, but she started to respect her once Pam had told her Maura's story.

"I saw Jane," Maura confessed. She had wanted to hide it from them, but she knew it was only a matter of time before they found out.

"And?" Michelle asked. "She's married, isn't she?"

"Jane wouldn't do that to her," Pam added.

"She's been waiting four years for me," Maura told them. "She hasn't been with another woman."

"Bullshit!" Michelle laughed. "And you believe that, Maura?"

"I trust Jane," Maura said defensively.

"Why?" Michelle asked. "She lied to you about that bitch Sam. She supposedly cheated on you and then she didn't. You really think she was taken advantage of? If she was taken advantage of, wouldn't she have done something about it? She's a fucking detective. Is this bitch in jail?"

"No," Maura responded, well aware of where this was headed.

"And why was Jane talking to her to begin with? If this bitch was so horrible to her, wouldn't she have had the sense to stay away?" Michelle asked in a raised voice. The other parents were starting to stare at them, but that failed to calm her down. "Look how she treated you after having sex with Lisa when you were legally separated. She thinks the whole fucking world revolves around her."

"You've never met Jane," Pam tried to reason with her.

"I don't need to meet her," Michelle said angrily. "These women are all the fucking same, Maura. My wife, your ex-wife, all of them. Them and their alpha female 'I wear the pants in the relationship' bullshit. They think all we're good for is to look pretty for them and get on our knees and suck their clit when they get home."

"Jane was never like that," Maura said in Jane's defensive. "She was protective, but she always treated me like an equal. Jane and I still love each other."

"Keep telling yourself that," Michelle responded before looking at her phone. "I have to go. Maura, I love you. Just don't fall for her bullshit. If you want to screw her, do it, but don't love her."

"Jane isn't Katherine," Maura told Pam after Michelle had left. "She shouldn't compare Jane to her wife."

"I know that, but she doesn't," Pam insisted. "Don't let Michelle or anyone else run your life. If you love Jane and Jane loves you, there's no reason why you two can't make it work. Did you ever think it might be better if Chloe had two parents?"

"Chloe gets along well with her," Maura said as she smiled for the first time during their conversation.

"She loves you, she gets along with daughter, your daughter gets along with her, and you obviously love her, so what are you waiting for?"

Pam's question remained on Maura's mind even as she was in her office. The first spare moment she was given, she pulled out her cell phone and called Jane. There was a possibility Jane wouldn't answer, but Maura figured it was worth a try.

The phone rang just once when she heard the sound of Jane's voice. "Maura!"

"I love you," Maura said unexpectedly.

"I love you, too," Jane responded in the same loving tone of voice she used when they were married.

"If we book a flight for you right now, you could be in Los Angeles before the sun sets," Maura pointed out.

"Assuming I have the day off and I'm not at my desk right now," Jane told her. "We don't have nine to fives, Maura. This isn't going to be easy for us. There might be months we don't see each other."

"Are you alone?" Maura asked.

"Kind of," Jane responded.

"That's why you're saying my name and saying that you love me while you're at your desk," Maura pointed out. "If anyone was around you, you wouldn't have answered your phone when you saw that it was me calling you."

"Maura—"

"I have to hang up," Maura interrupted. "I should be in the lab right now."

Maura hung up her phone before Jane could get another word in. She was conflicted and she knew she would be for awhile. She wanted to believe Pam, but after her phone conversation with Jane, she started to wonder if Michelle was right. Were they really all the same? Did Jane even deserve her love? _You're overreacting, Maura. Jane loves you and you shouldn't let Michelle get to you, _but the pep talk she was trying to give herself wasn't working. All she could think about was what Michelle had said.


	5. Chapter 5

Jane's five-hour flight felt as if it had lasted an eternity. She had a window seat, so she spent a great deal of her time staring at the flyover states and, when she wasn't staring out the window, she was staring at her favorite pictures of Maura. The pictures were all taken at various times throughout their marriage and, although she had seen them dozens or maybe even hundreds of times before, she never grew tired of looking at these same pictures. Each one told a story about something the two of them had experienced together and, after Maura had left, Jane knew the memories and the pictures were all she had of her and not even Maura, herself, could take them from Jane. She cried over them while they were separated and she had remembered Maura's statement about keeping pictures of her in the closet as nothing more than mementos from her past, but Jane never considered them to be mementos from her past. She had kept one of them in a frame on top of the nightstand next to her bed. It was the same side Maura had slept on so she'd fall asleep looking at Maura as she did when they were married, except after they were divorced all she had was a picture of Maura on a nightstand instead of Maura lying next to her in bed. She looked beautiful in the picture, but it was incomparable to the sleepy-eyed Maura that Jane had grown accustomed to seeing every morning.

As Jane grabbed her luggage from baggage claim and looked at the label that read, "BOS" and "LAX," it dawned on her that she wasn't going to need those pictures because, for the next five days, she was going to have Maura. The two of them hadn't talked in a week—not since their phone conversation on Chloe's first day of school—but that prompted Jane to fight for her. If she was going to have Maura in her life again, there were some sacrifices that would have to be made. They both had careers and lives in their respective cities, but Jane knew it was easier for her to pack a bag and head to Los Angeles for a few days than for Maura to pull Chloe out of school and take her across the country.

Jane hadn't planned an exact date to fly to LA until she received an unexpected phone call from Maura's best friend Pam just hours after her last conversation with Maura. Pam had called to invite her to a small gathering that she and her husband were hosting the following weekend. When Jane politely declined, Pam continued to push until Jane finally agreed. It wasn't that Jane didn't want to visit Maura. She was absolutely _certain_ she wanted to visit Maura, what she wasn't certain about was meeting Maura's friends. She had once caught five or ten minutes of an episode of _Real Housewives of Beverly Hills_ and she got the impression that these were the type of women Maura had befriended in Los Angeles. She imagined women with Botox, breast implants, and little dogs being carried around in designer bags. They weren't the type of people Jane wanted to be around, but the more she thought about it the more she realized she'd brave just about anything if it meant spending time with Maura.

When Jane walked out into the terminals, she noticed a particular blonde woman carrying a designer handbag amongst a sea of blonde women carrying designer handbags. Once the woman removed her sunglasses, she recognized her from the picture that she had sent to her phone of her with Maura.

"Jane!" the woman shouted out. "Jane Rizzoli!"

"You must be Pam," Jane said when she approached her. Jane had expected a phony kiss on the cheek or even a hug, but she was relieved when Pam grabbed her carry-on and led her to her car.

"It's nice to finally meet the woman my best friend has been talking about for the past four years," Pam told her once they were seated in her Range Rover.

"Where's Maura?" Jane asked. "I thought you said she'd be coming with you."

"I lied," Pam admitted. "She doesn't even know you're in California."

"What?" Jane asked in disbelief. "Really? So you don't know if Maura is even excited to see me?"

"She is," Pam said reassuringly. "Our other friend Kelly and I gave her a test. Maura is the only unmarried friend we have and we said it would be unfortunate if she didn't have a date at the party and, you know what she did—she started crying. She tried to hide it and said something about her amygdala and some gland and some connection between the two—I don't know."

Jane started smiling. "That sounds like her."

"Kelly and I just tune her out when she goes on like that."

"You tune her out?" Jane asked with a disgusted look on her face. "What? Those sayings of hers that you tune out are some of the things that make Maura so distinctly _Maura_. I love that about her."

"Jane?"

"What now?" Jane asked. She was still frustrated with Pam for ignoring Maura.

"We really don't tune her out," Pam admitted. "But thank you for standing up for her and proving that you love her just as Maura started crying at the mere mention of us setting her up with another woman. You two are in love with each other, but you're idiots—both of you. If you love each other, fuck what everyone else says. Just be together. Chloe is a sweet little girl and she deserves two moms, just like Maura deserves a wife."

"You're right," Jane sighed. "But it's not as easy as you make it out to be. What would we do? Would I move here? Would she move to Boston? I never saw myself working for the LAPD and I'm not sure if I could."

"You're a detective, Jane, and a damn good one if what Maura tells me is correct," Pam pointed out. "If you could be a good detective in Boston, you could be one in LA. It's not like it'd be hard for you to get a job over here. You don't think there's homicide in LA?"

"I can't."

"You can't or you won't, Jane?" Pam asked. "Maura has a daughter in preschool here and she has friends who care about her. She was a loner in Boston except for when she was with you. Do you really want to uproot her and take her back to a place where she doesn't really have anybody? You two can start fresh here and make new memories. How many times have you walked near the building where that Sam woman lived and where Maura lived? How many times have you driven past the house she used to own or the house you lived in when you were married? None of that is going anywhere and you're going to be constantly reminded of what happened between the two of you. You need a fresh start with her, Jane. You're going to be here for five days. Use that time to reconnect with her and to get to know Chloe. Oh, and Jane?"

"Yes?"

"Maura hasn't had sex in four years," Pam told Jane. She touched her arm while they were stuck at a red light as a way of stressing the severity of what she had just told her. "She hasn't had sex in four years and the girls and I are worried about her. We searched her apartment and we didn't find any vibrators to tie her over, so we don't know exactly how she's surviving. It's like she's lost all desire for it. You need to change that, Jane. You need to spend at least a couple of days shut in her apartment so you could be constantly doing her. I'll take care of Chloe."

"I'm not going to do her," Jane cut in.

"She needs it!" Pam insisted. "She needs to remember what it's like to be made love to."

"That's different," Jane pointed out. "I'll make love to her but I won't do her."

"Maura is going to be so surprised when she sees you. I can't wait to see the look on her face. Chloe will probably come running to you."

The thought of seeing Maura and Chloe again made Jane smile as she blankly stared out the window. There was nothing exciting to see en route from LAX to Pam's house, but she was already amazed by the difference in the architecture.

"You're not in Boston anymore," Pam said jokingly when they drove past streets lined with palm trees.

Jane was further reminded of how far she was from her neighborhood when they pulled up to a guard patrolling the Bel Air entryway on Sunset Boulevard. When they entered after Pam showed identification, Jane was taken aback by everything she was seeing. She wasn't in awe of the people who lived there nor was she jealous. Jane was shocked by the amount of excess in their lives and she couldn't believe these were the people who made Maura happy. _The things you do for her._

"We're not all bad," Pam said as she pulled into her driveway. "Maybe you shouldn't judge us too quickly. I didn't judge _you_."

There was no hiding her embarrassment. "I'm sorry. Was I that obvious?"

"A little bit," Pam responded. "There are going to be some people here whom you might not like, but it's not going to matter because Maura probably won't let you out of her sight now that you're here. Are you ready to see her?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Jane said nervously.

Jane made the trek from the driveway to Pam's front door. They had a feeling everyone was going to be in the living room, so Pam's plan was to just casually enter as if nothing was out of the ordinary. They were both hoping that's when Maura would hear Jane's voice and run into her arms. It was a long shot, but Jane was going to hold onto what little hope she had now that she knew Maura was completely unaware of her being in LA.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, there's going to be quite a few 'Jane in LA' chapters...**

When Jane entered Pam's house, she was taken aback by how the style of the décor on the inside differed from the outside. Although Pam lived in a large house, it appeared inviting and a bit old-fashioned on the outside, but the décor inside was modern and Jane considered it a bit cold. She knew Pam had a child, but it appeared as if no child had ever even set foot inside the house. There were no toys scattered on the floor or family photos hanging in wooden frames in the living room. There was artwork that appeared as if a child could have created it, but Jane knew it was probably purchased from a gallery and cost about three times as much money as she made in a year.

"Ladies, this is Jane," Pam announced.

Jane looked at the women she was going to be spending the afternoon with. There were seven of them ranging in age from—Jane assumed—their mid-thirties to their mid-forties. She knew she should be nice to these women because they were Maura's friends, but she couldn't help feeling as if she were in a scene from _the Stepford Wives. _Every one of these women looked immaculate even if their beauty came at a price. While waiting for someone to break the awkward silence, Jane looked them over and tried to determine which women still had their original noses as well as which ones had their natural skin tone instead of spray tanning or going to a tanning salon on a regular basis. There was also the question of who had gotten Botox injections, but that would have to wait until an actual conversation began so she could determine who still had the ability to show emotions and who had paralyzed facial muscles as a result of Botox.

"I'm Dana. Are you Jane as in Maura's Jane?" a woman named Dana asked. They were the first words that had been spoken in what felt like an eternity. _Maura's Jane_, Jane thought. _I could get used to the sound of that…again._

"Yes, Maura's Jane," Pam responded.

"Why is she here?" another woman asked.

"Michelle, that's not very polite," Jane heard someone say.

"So what," Michelle told her. "How did someone like her even get in here? Jane, did you have to flash your badge at the gate so they'd let you in?"

Jane bit her lip in an attempt at keeping calm, but she wasn't sure how much she could take. _Why is Maura friends with this woman?_

"Where is Maura?" Pam asked, trying to tune out Michelle.

"She's in the playroom with the kids," one of Pam's guests told them. "Chloe wanted to show her something she colored."

"Maura!" Pam shouted. "There's some finely sculpted goddess of a woman waiting for you in the living room!"

"I already have a finely sculpted goddess of a woman!" Maura responded. "She's in Boston!"

"Maura, get your ass over here!" Dana shouted.

Jane heard the familiar sound of Maura's heels clicking against the linoleum and she felt her heart skip a beat. She knew Maura loved her; she had made it evident _yet again_ when she referred to her as her 'goddess of a woman' but how was Maura going to react to her being there? Maybe Maura wanted them to meet again in private instead of in front of an audience of women who knew the details of their relationship without ever having met Jane. Jane wondered what Maura had told them or what Pam or Michelle had told them. They were all staring at Jane and she felt as if she should say something, but all words escaped her. She felt as if she were back in high school standing in a classroom full of mean girls, which every one of them probably had been considered at their respective high schools.

Jane heard the sound of Maura's heels stop momentarily before the familiar clicking became more rapid. Her Maura was now running to her and Jane prepared herself for the inevitable tackling. Without having exchanged a single word, Maura leapt into Jane's arms and wrapped her legs around her waist. It had been four years since she had held Maura in that position, but Jane tried not to struggle in front of Maura's friends. She gripped Maura's behind for support (and because she could) and hoped that they'd remain upright.

"Maybe you should listen to me next time," Pam told her, but Maura was too wrapped up in Jane to pay attention to anything that was happening around her.

While holding her, Jane looked closely at every feature on Maura's face. Unlike her friends, Maura hadn't spent a fortune on cosmetic surgery. She had a tiny wrinkle forming at the corner of her eyes, which Jane thought was the most beautiful feature she had ever seen on _any _woman. That little wrinkle was where Jane delicately placed her lips. "You're so beautiful," she whispered to Maura.

Maura touched her nose to Jane's and tried to keep her composure, but she figured if she were already wrapped around Jane's waist in front of her friends, nothing much would be off limits. She wanted to innocently kiss Jane, but the moment her lips were touching Jane's, she knew she could no longer keep it innocent. It had been four years since she had this woman and she was having a difficult time controlling her desire for Jane. When she nibbled on Jane's lower lip, Jane slowly pulled away.

"Wait until we're alone," she whispered to her.

"There's a guest room upstairs," Pam informed them. "I wouldn't mind if you two use it."

"No," Jane quickly responded. "Thank you, but no."

"We can control ourselves," Maura insisted.

"Why should you?" Dana asked.

"Jane, it's been four years," Pam reminded her. "Our dear Maura needs to be taken care of."

"You're already grabbing her ass, Jane," Dana added. "She has four years of sexual tension just pent up inside her."

"I can wait," Maura reassured them. "_If _Jane and I make love to each other, we don't want it to be here."

"No offense," Jane added.

"I'm worried that you all might be gathered around the door, listening to us," Maura told them.

"Yet you're still straddling Jane?" Pam asked. "And you aren't even looking at any of us."

Jane looked at Maura's cheeks start to redden and she couldn't help but smile at her. She gave her one last kiss before the two of them reluctantly separated. Not wanting to have absolutely no physical contact, Jane grabbed Maura's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"So, it's been four years?" Michelle asked. "Maura, does that mean the last woman you fucked was Lisa?"

"Michelle!" Pam said angrily.

"It's just a question," Michelle pointed out. "Maura, you could have so many women. You could have me, for fuck's sake. Why do you want _her_?"

"I _love _her," Maura responded. "Jane is everything I could ever want in a woman."

"You should have fucked Sam that time she hit on you in your apartment," Michelle told Maura. "I bet she's amazing. Was she amazing in bed, Jane? She must have been if one last fuck with her was worth destroying your marriage."

Maura squeezed Jane's hand in hopes that it would prevent both of them from going off on Michelle. "We're leaving!" Maura announced. Her voice was raised, which startled all of her friends. "Pam, can you take Jane to the playroom so she could get our—_my _—daughter? I need to talk to Michelle."

"I'm sorry," Pam said as they walked to the playroom. "When Michelle is drunk, she's—"

"Is she ever _not_ drunk?" Jane asked.

"We're not all like Michelle," Pam reassured her. "In fact, Michelle is the only one like Michelle. The rest of us know you and Maura were meant to be together."

"I love Maura," Jane told her. "And I'm not going to let Michelle come between us."

"Well,good," Pam responded. "My husband and I are going out to dinner tomorrow with Dana and her husband. You and Maura should join us."

"I'm not sure if—"

"Michelle won't be anywhere near us," Pam promised. "She and her wife aren't invited."

"Okay," Jane said reluctantly. "As long as I never have to see Michelle again."

"You won't," Pam said before walking ahead of Jane. "Chloe! Sweetie, your other mommy is here."

"Myother mommy?" Chloe asked. "Jane!" Jane couldn't stop smiling when she saw Chloe's pigtails bounce as she ran over to her. Just as her mom did, Chloe ran over to Jane and wanted to be picked up.

"Ready to go?" Jane asked after giving Maura's daughter a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah!" Chloe said excitedly.

"Do you have all your stuff?"

"No," Chloe said. "Jane, I'm forgetting Mr. Teddy. I can't leave without Mr. Teddy."

Pam handed Chloe a teddy bear wearing a Red Sox t-shirt. "This is Mr. Teddy?" Jane asked.

"Yeah," Chloe responded. "He likes the Red Sox, just like me and Mommy and you do. We watch the games and Mommy talks about you."

Pam nudged Jane. "I told you she's still in love with you. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Jane responded.

"Oh, and Jane, make sure you take care of Maura tonight. I mean, really take care of her."

"Bye, ladies," Jane said as she grabbed Maura's hand.

Once Chloe was securely fastened inside her safety seat, Jane and Maura started kissing in the front seat of her car. "Mommy, no!" Chloe shouted with her little hands covering her eyes. "Yucky!"

"We'll save the kissing for tonight," Jane said before stealing one final kiss.

"Jane?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for surprising me," Maura told her. "I've been telling my friends that I don't need a woman, but they know how lonely I've been without you. I see them with their wives or their husbands and I—I always imagine you with me. I'm sorry it didn't turn out better and I'm sorry about our last phone conversation."

"I'm here with you," Jane said as she grabbed her hand. "I'm not going to let anything Michelle says come between us. I love you, Maura."

When they were stopped at a red light, Maura leaned in and kissed Jane again. "Again?" Chloe asked. "Eww!"

They had five days together until Jane was scheduled to return to Boston—five days to reconnect and make new memories with each other and little Chloe. While on the way to Maura's apartment, Maura proposed an itinerary for the next five days, but nothing was going to be scheduled until tomorrow. They were going to have the rest of the afternoon and the evening with Chloe and the entire night alone with each other.


	7. Chapter 7

The drive from Pam's house to Maura's apartment lasted fifteen minutes with traffic, but it was long enough for Chloe to fall asleep in the backseat of Maura's car. When they pulled into the parking garage of her apartment complex, Jane insisted on getting Chloe out of the car, herself. Maura had expected Chloe to wake up, but Jane was so gentle with her that Chloe barely even stirred.

As Jane held Maura's sleeping daughter while the elevator took them up to Maura's apartment, Maura's thoughts remained on how well her daughter was getting along with Jane. Chloe shied away from most adults, but she instantly took a liking to Jane. She had let Jane hold her and she had even told Jane about Mr. Teddy. Jane had caught Maura looking at the two of them but, instead of a verbal response, all they did was smile at each other. Maura was imagining their lives as she had wanted them since the moment Jane and Chloe first interacted with each other. She imagined the three of them going on outings as a family and playful interactions between her daughter and her wife with Jane teaching her how to play t-ball and, when Chloe was a little older, Jane teaching her how to ride a bike. She imagined Chloe climbing into their bed after having a nightmare and the two of them holding her and calming her fears. There'd be holiday pageants and back-to-school night when she was in elementary school. When Chloe reached her teenage years, they'd spend countless hours in the living room waiting for her to come home from dates and Jane giving the obligatory, "have her home at a decent hour or else" speech to any teenage boy or girl who dared take out their little girl. She imagined Chloe's high school graduation and the two of them dropping off their daughter at her first college dorm. Maura knew she was getting ahead of herself, but she even imagined Chloe's wedding day and how overjoyed they'd feel when they became grandparents. They'd be in their sixties or maybe even over seventy, but she knew she'd still be as in love with Jane—if not more so—than she already was.

Maura was apprehensive about showing Jane her apartment. It was comfortable—even cozy—but Maura was worried about how Jane might react to the difference in the décor of her apartment in comparison to her former apartment or the house that they owned together. There were framed photographs in the hallway of the two of them together and Chloe's artwork displayed on the refrigerator. As a child, Maura's drawings and art projects were never put on display and she vowed to be a different parent than her mother was. By displaying her daughter's drawings and art projects, Maura felt as if she were showing her daughter how proud she was of her accomplishments and her creativity. There were also the art projects and science experiments they did together that Maura proudly displayed. Maura knew Chloe couldn't grasp her intentions at such a young age, but she was hoping someday Chloe would understand the reasoning behind what she was doing—or maybe not have the need to understand it at all. If Chloe was nurtured her entire childhood and adolescent years, there would be no need for her to know the opposite. Chloe may have experienced love and nurturing, but what she had never experienced was a two-parent household and, as elated as Maura was that Jane and Chloe were getting along so well with each other, she was still worried about the possibility of them not remarrying. Maura could barely handle her own broken heart, let alone having to explain the situation to her little girl, but when she looked at the two of them now fast asleep on the couch with Chloe's head resting on Jane's chest and Jane holding on to her as if she wanted nothing more than to keep her safe, Maura realized there was no need to put a stop to the growing bond between the two of them. Jane had no intentions of breaking her heart just like she had no intentions of breaking Jane's heart.

Time passed slowly as Maura tried to occupy herself while Jane and Chloe were asleep. She looked at the two of them—her perfect pair—and, for the first time since she had moved into that apartment, she finally felt as if she were home. There was nothing missing in her life until she looked at the finger where her wedding ring used to be. _You're not Jane's wife and she isn't Chloe's mom. You both need time._

"I'm sorry," Jane whispered so as not to wake Chloe.

"You had a five hour flight," Maura reminded her. "And there's a three hour difference between eastern time and pacific time."

"What's her excuse?" Jane quipped. Even as they were talking, Chloe was still fast asleep on Jane.

Maura gave her a confused look. "She's three, Jane."

"Three and one month," Chloe corrected them.

"Weren't you just sleeping?" Jane asked as she began to tickle her.

"I lied," Chloe said through her giggles, but the more she giggled the more Jane tickled her.

"You lied? Do you know what happens when you lie?" Jane asked playfully.

"No," Chloe responded.

"Liars get tickled," Jane informed her. "But they don't get tickled by me. Liars get tickled by the tickle monster."

Chloe was horrified. "Who is the tickle monster?"

"Your mommy," Jane said as she winked at Maura.

Once she heard this, Chloe couldn't stop giggling. "Mommy! You're the tickle monster?"

"Shhh!" Jane said as she put a finger up to her lips. "The tickle monster will hear us. Do you know how to stop her?"

"No," Chloe whispered. "How?"

"You have to tickle the tickle monster," Jane said as serious as she could.

Without saying another word, Chloe ran to the sofa Maura was on and attempted to tickle her, but Maura scooped her up and playfully spun around with her until her daughter couldn't stop giggling.

The three of them continued to play until Chloe's bedtime. Jane was going to stay in the living room as Maura tucked her in, but Chloe insisted that Jane join them in her room. After they both read a story to her and gave her kisses on the cheek, Chloe quickly fell asleep without any protest.

"The name on all of her schoolwork is Chloe Jane," Maura said to break the ice once they were alone in Maura's bedroom. "There's another Chloe in her class, so she insists on being called Chloe Jane when she's at school."

Jane had grabbed her pajamas from her suitcase and Maura's were neatly laid on her bed, but neither of them was sure what should happen next. They knew what Maura's friends were expecting, but was it forced? They desired each other and even fantasized about each other, but neither Jane nor Maura felt completely ready.

Jane decided to take the initiative to save Maura the emotional anguish. "I'm not ready, Maur."

"Neither am I," Maura admitted. She had been ready while she was at Pam's; she had been ready for four entire years, but now that Jane was in her room, all she wanted was to be held by her. After four years of not being made love to by a woman, Maura realized she wasn't ready for that type of intimacy again. Sex was what destroyed their marriage and Maura was having a difficult time associating it with anything other than the dissolution of their marriage.

"I don't want you to think I flew over here to have sex with you," Jane told her. "And after hearing what your friends are saying about me making sure you're taken care of sexually, it feels forced and I don't want this to feel forced. I love you and I want to make love to you when the time is right."

"We can hold each other," Maura suggested. "That's enough for me."

Maura's nightie left little to the imagination and, although her original intentions for wearing it were to sexually stimulate Jane, she was now grateful she had worn it because it allowed for more skin-to-skin contact as Jane held her.

"This is the life I've always wanted with you," Jane admitted. "I'm holding you, there's a little one in the next room—"

"But you're leaving," Maura interrupted. "The life I've always wanted is for us to live together with our child. You're right, Jane. We shouldn't have a bi-coastal affair."

"Then move to Boston," Jane responded

"Move to LA," Maura snapped. She hadn't meant to take such a tone with Jane, but the thought of having Jane and then losing her again was almost too much for her to handle. A tear pooled at the corner of her eyes, but the moment it fell down her cheek Jane was there to kiss it away. "Jane, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Jane insisted. "We'll make this work and not just for the two of us but for our—_your_—little girl."

Maura knew Jane's words weren't a slip-up. They were going to make this relationship or arrangement (or whatever it was) work. Neither of them knew exactly how they'd make it work, but they were both willing to try anything they could to be together.

There were kisses and gentle caresses until, for the first time in four years, Maura was finally able to fall asleep in Jane's arms.


	8. Chapter 8

For four years Jane knew the feeling of waking up alone, but for five days she was going to experience what it was like to wake up with her arms wrapped around the woman she loved. When she was holding Maura, Jane felt as if she could lose herself in the moment because all that mattered to her was Maura's comfort and protection. Jane knew what divorce was like for most people—the bitterness, revenge, and overall contempt for their ex—but Jane realized it was the opposite for her and Maura. Although they were divorced, her love for Maura had grown stronger and, as much as she loved her in that moment, she knew her love for Maura would increase as years passed. They were falling back into place and everything was as it used to be when they were married, except for one little difference. As Jane was kissing Maura's shoulders in a vain attempt at waking her up, the sound of little feet running toward them caught her attention.

Everything had happened so fast—much too fast for Jane to even realize what was going on. Chloe had grabbed a step-stool from against the wall and used it to climb on top of the bed with them. The three-year-old squirmed in between them in bed and gave both Jane and Maura a good morning kiss on the cheek.

"We have company," Jane announced to the newly-awaken Maura. The sight of Chloe cuddled up between the two of them warmed Jane's heart more than she'd like to admit to anyone. As insistent as she was about staying in Boston, waking up to Maura and Chloe was enough to make her reconsider.

"She's my alarm clock on weekends," Maura said as she held on to her daughter. "Sometimes, we lie in bed and tell each other stories or Chloe tells me about her dreams."

Chloe placed her tiny hand on Jane's arm to get her attention. "Mommy and Jane, I had a dream."

"What about?" Maura asked.

"Jane stayed with us forever," Chloe said excitedly. "Mommy, can you marry Jane? Please? All the other mommies are married but you're not. I want you to marry Jane and wear a pretty dress like a princess when you get married. You can be Princess Mommy and I can be your flower girl."

"I've always wanted to see you in a wedding dress," Jane admitted. She wasn't sure why she had said such a thing to Maura or what she was expecting to come out of it, but a three-year-old girl's dream had prompted her to come to terms with one of her longtime fantasies.

"You've already seen me in one," Maura said sadly.

Jane reached over to squeeze Maura's hand. "That was a dress you wore on the day we were m-a-r-r-i-e-d, but it wasn't a wedding dress." She had made sure to spell so as not to confuse Chloe about the two of them being previously married, but it dawned on her that Chloe might know how to spell that word as well. "She can't spell the M word, can she?"

"No," Maura shook her head. "Jane, why are we discussing this?"

"Chloe brought it up," Jane said nonchalantly.

"Yeah," Chloe told her. "Get married to Jane and we can live happily ever after and Bass can be a Prince. Mommy, I gotta go feed Bass."

Jane and Maura watched in amusement as Chloe crawled to the foot of the bed and climbed down her stool. When they heard her little feet running across the room and into the kitchen, Jane and Maura couldn't help smiling at each other.

"Bass!" Chloe called out. "Bass, it's time for breakfast!"

"I could get used to this," Jane told Maura. "I know we aren't ready to be married and I know we aren't ready to live together, but maybe we could take a small step forward and you could be my girlfriend."

"Your girlfriend?" Maura asked. "Jane, we're forty."

"Fine, then be my _woman_friend," Jane suggested. "I don't care what it's called. I just want you to know I'm faithful to you."

Maura moved in to close the gap between them. Now that her daughter was preoccupied with Bass, she had a few moments alone with Jane and she was going to take advantage of every second they had together. She pressed her lips to Jane's and, what had began as an innocent gesture, turned into Maura slowly slipping her tongue through Jane's parted lips. Jane had a firm grip on her behind, the hem of her nightie now raised above her waistline. They had frequently experienced mornings like these when they were married, mornings when they were so filled with need for each other that the world outside no longer mattered. They'd make love to each other for hours on end until all of their energy was spent and they were forced to have a recovery period. The recovery period may not have been as pleasurable, but they'd hold each other until the unfortunate moment when they'd absolutely have to get out of bed.

Maura was so focused on kissing that she hadn't noticed Jane's hands start to roam her body. It was the first time in years Maura not only felt herself become aroused, but she was becoming aroused from the touch of another woman.

"Jane!" Maura gasped. "Babe, we can't."

"It's okay," Jane said as she immediately moved her hands from the waistband of Maura's panties. "We agreed last night that we weren't ready."

Maura's breathing had become heavier. "I want to make love to you, Jane. I've wanted to for four years now, but I don't want it to be rushed. We deserve more than some quick touching under our pajamas. My life is different now, Jane. I can't be the woman who was always sexually available to you. My time is going to be split between you and Chloe. We have to wait until she's asleep."

The worried look on Maura's face made Jane smile. "Is that what this is about?" Jane asked. "Maura, I'm not this constantly…horny…person. I love Chloe and I love that you have her in your life. Chloe and I get along great, but I think you're using her as a scapegoat for what's really bothering you."

"I still think about her," Maura admitted. "As much as I love you and as much as I want you, I can't stop thinking about Sam and what she did to you."

"Maura, I'm okay," Jane insisted.

"Jane, I left you," Maura pointed out. "I slept with another woman when you needed me the most. After Lisa kissed me for the first time, I should have realized no other woman could kiss me the way you do. I should have said good night to her at the lounge and rushed over to you. You're the woman I should have made love to that night and every night after that."

"I lied to you about the whole thing," Jane reminded her. "I should have told you the truth from the beginning, but I didn't. I know how you would have reacted if I would have been honest with you. You would have held me and been supportive and we would have done something about this together like we always did, but here we are Maura, four years later and we're lying in your bed and still so in love with each other after everything that has happened. Remember when we both said if it's meant to be we'll find our way back to each other? This is it, Maura. This is our sign that it's meant to be. This is our second chance. I know I was hesitant at first, but I want to be in a committed relationship with you and I want to be there for Chloe."

"Mommy!" Chloe shouted. "Bass is finished with breakfast and he says it's my turn!"

"I'll be right there!" Maura responded.

"Okay!" Chloe shouted. "Can I have wheatgrass juice?"

"She drinks wheatgrass juice?" Jane asked in disbelief. "She's three. What happened to apple juice or chocolate milk?"

"She likes wheatgrass juice and soy yogurt for breakfast," Maura informed her.

"Look at what this city is doing to your little girl," Jane quipped. "We need to get her to Boston. She should be eating pancakes or colorful sugary cereal for breakfast. I have so much to teach her. I bet she's never even been to a Red Sox game."

Maura could no longer resist the urge she had to kiss Jane. "I love you," she said softly. "And I'm going to keep you here with me."


	9. Chapter 9

Jane and Maura pulled into the driveway of Pam's house that afternoon. Instead of going to lunch as they had originally planned, Pam changed their plans to appetizers and cocktails at her house followed by dinner at her and her husband's favorite restaurant in Beverly Hills. Jane had hoped they would keep their lunch plans because going to lunch meant having more time alone with Maura, but now she was expected to spend an entire afternoon _and _evening with Maura's friends. She knew she should try to socialize with them for Maura's sake, but she just couldn't see herself fitting in with these women. As they entered Pam's house, Jane held on to the slightest bit of hope that their husbands were more entertaining and they'd allow her into their social circle for the day so she wouldn't have to remain with the women for the duration of her time at Pam's house.

"Maura!" Dana said excitedly as she got up from the sofa and ran as fast as she could to Maura in four-inch heels. "You look so beautiful! And you're absolutely glowing! Jane, did you—"

"No," Jane interrupted.

"Jane and I are a couple again," Maura announced.

As Jane had expected, the rest of Maura's friends rushed at her. Jane made sure to get out of the way as Pam, Dana, and Kelly took turns hugging Maura and congratulating her on being in a committed relationship yet again. She was used to the Maura that wasn't a hugger, the Maura that was socially awkward, but there was not a single trace of that woman when she was with her friends. It was a side of Maura that Jane had never seen before and Jane would have been lying if she said she didn't enjoy seeing how happy she was and how her friends wanted to share in her happiness.

"You don't look very comfortable in the hen house," Jane heard a man say to her. When she turned around, she noticed a man about her age with an expensive haircut and an ensemble that probably cost as much as she made in a month.

"I'm not," Jane responded. "But my girlfriend is."

"Your girlfriend?" he asked. "You must be Jane."

"Jane Rizzoli," she said as she held out her hand.

"Rick Harrington. Welcome to my humble abode." After a quick handshake, he put his hand on Jane's shoulder. "I know it's not my place to say anything, but you were all Pam talked about last week. 'Jane is going to visit Maura.' 'They're going to get back together.' 'Maura is finally going to have a wife.' My wife and the rest of the girls—they mean well even if they come on a bit strong. Maura's a good woman and she deserves someone who loves her."

"She does," Jane agreed. "And she _is _a good woman."

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked. "The rest of the guys are in the rec room."

"I shouldn't," Jane told him although she wanted nothing more than to leave the living room. "I should be with Maura."

"That's not a convincing argument," Rick pointed out. "I have beer on tap, a pool table, and an 80-inch TV with the Angels versus Red Sox game on right now."

"Damn it," Jane muttered under her breath. "Babe, I'm gonna go with Rick and the guys."

"Rick and the guys," Kelly repeated. "Isn't she cute?"

"She's fitting in already," Dana said as she nudged Maura.

"You four better play nice in there," Pam called out, but Jane and Rick had already left in order to avoid their endless commentary about Jane and Maura's re-established commitment to each other.

"So is it Officer Rizzoli?" he asked as they walked to the rec room.

"Detective Rizzoli," Jane corrected him.

"What unit?"

"Homicide," Jane informed him.

"Homicide?" Rick asked in amazement. "Son of a bitch."

"What?" Jane smirked.

"You out-man all of us," Rick said jokingly. "If there were a murderer in this house, the women would look to you and you alone for protection instead of Chuck, Logan, and me combined."

As much as Maura wanted to be near her girlfriend, she was ecstatic when she peeked into the rec room, which looked more like a bar than a rec room, and saw Jane arm-wrestling with Kelly's husband.

"Are you going to tell Logan to take it easy on her?" Dana's husband Chuck asked Maura.

"No," Maura responded. "I'm here to tell Jane to take it easy on Logan."

"Do I get a kiss for good luck?" Jane asked.

"No kisses or affection," Rick told Maura. "It'll soften her up. We have one hundred dollars and our pride riding on whether or not she could beat Logan."

"The Angels just scored," Chuck announced. It was all Jane needed to rile herself up. Her Red Sox were now losing by one run, so she channeled all of her frustration into beating Logan. Within a few more seconds, his arm was down and Rick poured Jane another beer.

"Darts?" Logan suggested.

"You afraid of losing to Rizzoli again?" Rick asked.

"Guys, I'm going to talk to Maura for a while," Jane told them. "Don't start anything without me."

"New rule," Chuck called out. "Jane has to chug a beer for every time the Red Sox score and the rest of us have to chug one for every time the Angels score."

"Will we even make it to dinner?" Maura asked jokingly. "My friends will have drunk husbands and I'll have a drunk girlfriend."

"No, you won't," Jane promised. "I really want to take you to dinner and I'm treating you tonight."

"Jane, that restaurant is one-hundred dollars per plate," Maura informed her. "We can split the check or I can treat you. You've already paid four hundred for your flight."

"I arm-wrestled Logan six times. I just won six-hundred dollars from him in a matter of minutes," Jane told her. "He's technically paying for dinner tonight and my next flight over here."

"Your next flight?" Maura asked.

Maura was expecting Jane to kiss her, but instead she lifted Maura off of the ground. "I never want to be away from you for long."

"It would be more _practical _if you moved here," Rick cut in.

"Don't pressure her," Maura insisted. "I'm just glad she's here."

When Rick had left, Jane kissed Maura until their respective groups called them back. It had seemed like seconds for Maura, but Jane had kissed her for well over ten minutes. Just as she had when they were first dating over six years ago, she lost track of time and her surroundings when Jane kissed her. Her kisses were possessive at first but Jane would soon slow down and become gentle with Maura, stopping only to look into her eyes and tell her how much she loved her. These were the moments that enabled Maura to repeatedly fall in love with Jane more intensely than before, but with Jane scheduled to leave on Thursday morning, these were also the moments that were going to break Maura's heart.

"Work it, Maura!" Dana called out as Maura walked back to the living room. "You look hot when you're kissing her."

"Were you watching?" Maura asked nervously.

"Not only were we watching, we recorded it," Pam told her. "I'll send you the video so you can have a souvenir."

"You miss her already, don't you?" Kelly asked. "You miss her and she's only in the rec room."

"Imagine when she's back in Boston," Pam pointed out.

"I'm trying not to imagine that," Maura said almost too herself.

Dana scooted closer to Maura, so she could hold her hand. "You knew these five days weren't going to last forever."

"And in these five days, you two are going to get closer to each other and Chloe is going to become attached to her," Pam added.

"Let's change the subject," Maura suggested. "Pamela, has Mackenzie completed her assignments for next week?"

"It's preschool and they're learning about the color blue," Pam said hurriedly. "We have more important matters to discuss, namely your relationship with Jane. After you left us—and we made Katherine take Michelle's drunk ass home—the three of us devised a plan to get Jane to move over here."

"What is it?" Maura asked.

"Sweetie, it's best if you don't know," Kelly insisted. "Sometimes I wish _I _didn't know."

"Does Rick know?" Maura asked.

"Rick knows nothing," Pam said mischievously. "Speaking of our spouses, I can hear the four of them shouting in there like a bunch of drunken frat boys. I think Jane is my husband's new best friend."

"They're probably initiating Jane," Dana said jokingly. "Maura, you better enjoy her the way she is right now because it won't be long before they take her golfing and make her wear beige slacks with polo shirts."

Maura couldn't help laughing at the thought of Jane dressing in preppy clothes like her friends' husbands. The vibrating coming from her phone brought Maura back to reality. It was a text from Jane and she was eager to read it in hopes that it would be a flirtatious one. "_The guys want to take me golfing on Tuesday. Can I go?"_

"_You're not obligated to ask me_," Maura responded. "_I want you to have fun_, _but don't wear any beige slacks and polo shirts._"

"_No beige slacks, but I was going to wear some checkered shorts with an argyle sweater."_

"_Jane, no."_

"_Maura, yes."_

"_I love you."_

"_I love you, too…and I'm not wearing checkered and argyle."_

By the end of dinner, it dawned on Maura how much she was going to miss Jane when she left. Jane had made a good impression on her friends and even managed to befriend their husbands. Maura had no idea what her friends had planned but in that moment she was willing to do anything to convince Jane to move to LA.


	10. Chapter 10

Jane left Maura's apartment on Tuesday morning wearing jeans and a yellow v-neck t-shirt, but Maura knew it was only a matter of time before her friends' husbands made her change, not so much because there was a dress code at the country club, but because she was the 'new kid' in their group and as former frat guys, they took pleasure in initiation rituals. Before they left, Maura told them to take it easy on her girlfriend, although, in retrospect, she realized she shouldn't have said that.

"We'll take it easy on her," Logan said to Maura before turning to Jane and mouthing the words, "Rizzoli, you're a dead woman."

As much as she wanted Jane to herself, Maura was well aware of how important it was for Jane to become friends with Rick, Chuck, and Logan. If she had a social circle in Los Angeles, she'd be more likely to leave Boston. Making friends with them would not only benefit Jane; it would also benefit Maura, which is why she was willing to let the guys take over her girlfriend for the afternoon. Her friends' husbands were all men with high-power and high-stress jobs, but the moment they left their offices they liked to unwind by partaking in some of the most immature activities Maura had ever heard of, but if it helped them deal with stress and served as a coping mechanism, Maura wasn't about to complain. In fact, she hoped they could help Jane in their own unusual way.

With their significant others gone and their children in school, Maura and her friends decided to indulge in some shopping. It was their favorite activity and one they participated in on a regular basis, but unlike every other shopping trip in which they would wander from store to store and Maura's friends would buy everything they wanted and didn't need, this particular shopping trip had a purpose.

Maura wanted to make love to Jane, not for the purpose of getting off, but as yet another way of reconnecting with the woman she loved. Jane would be taking so many new memories back to Boston with her, memories she had made with Chloe and her new friends, but Maura wanted her to take with her a memory that the two of them could only make with each other. They had made love to each other hundreds of times and, although every time they made love was enjoyable, Maura wanted to find a way to make this time different. It would be their first time in four years and, with how good Jane had been treating her, Maura wanted to give her woman a night she'd never forget.

As she sifted through her collection of lingerie that had she accumulated during her marriage to Jane, she realized none of it was right for the experience she wanted to have with Jane. Each teddy, negligee, and baby doll nightie in her collection held significant memories for the two of them—memories that Maura cherished—but the moment they gave themselves to each other physically after four years of being apart deserved something new, so Maura sent a group text to her friends and, after Jane had left, she made her way to Rodeo Drive for a shopping trip.

It had been years since Maura purchased lingerie with the sole intention of wearing it for another woman, so she was grateful that her friends were with her even if they were most likely going to embarrass her. Upon walking into the store, Maura's eyes were immediately drawn to a black corset.

"Too complicated," Pam told her. "No corsets."

"How is a corset complicated?" Maura asked. "Jane loves them on me."

"They'd make Maura's rack look even better," Michelle blurted out.

Pam raised an eyebrow at Michelle. "Do you fantasize about Maura's breasts?"

"What? No!" Michelle responded quickly.

"Hell, I fantasize about them," Dana added. "And I'm not even a lesbian. I can just imagine how Jane must get."

"Yes, please, let's return to the subject of Jane," Pam insisted. "Jane is the reason why we're here."

"Why can't I wear a corset?" Maura asked again.

"You can wear a corset the _second _time you have sex with her," Pam pointed out. "But not the first time. You're going to be with Jane—the woman you have an almost uncontrollable desire for—and she's going to be naked in front of you for the first time in over four years. Maura, you're going to be wet and throbbing for her and she's going to want you in the worst way. Do you really think she should have to undo all of those buttons before she gets to see your chest? Just get something gauzy that she could rip off of you if she needs to."

The thought of Jane's strong arms being used to rip her lingerie off was already taking a toll on Maura's libido. Her mind was being consumed by thoughts of Jane's long fingers quickly and roughly pumping in and out of her until—

"Maura?" Kelly asked. "Maura, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Maura said as she was brought back from her fantasy.

"We've been calling your name for over a minute and you just stood there with this blank look on your face, except for those few seconds you were biting your lip," Pam said to her.

"Maura, baby, you're already wet," Michelle announced. She hadn't said it too loudly, but it was still loud enough for the sales associates and even some of the other customers to hear her. When all eyes were on Maura and Michelle, she knew she had to get out of there.

"We're going to another store," Maura insisted.

As they walked along Rodeo Drive, Michelle pulled Maura aside. "You know I could take care of you, right? We could go back to my place. Jane doesn't have to know and Katherine won't even care."

"I love my woman," Maura said sternly. "I know you don't value your marriage, but I value what I have with Jane."

"You do, but does she?" Michelle asked. "She obviously didn't when she fucked Sam. Just think about that, Maura."

"She was drugged," Maura said defensively.

"You actually believe that," Michelle scoffed. "I hope you don't believe she's going to be faithful to you while she's in Boston."

"What's going on back here?" Pam asked as she was about to approach them.

Michelle flashed her a smug smile. "I was just apologizing to Maura for my little outburst in the store."

"There's another lingerie store," Kelly told them once Maura, Pam, and Michelle rejoined Kelly and Dana. "Or we could always go to Santa Monica. There's a Victoria's Secret at the Third Street Promenade."

"And A Frederick's of Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard," Dana added. "Maura, we'll find something for you before our husbands are finished with Jane."

"What do you think they're doing?" Maura asked. "I just can't see my girlfriend golfing for very long without getting bored."

"Golfing is just an excuse," Pam told her. "Rick thinks he's the ringleader, so he planned an entire afternoon of Jane-initiation. I'm sure she's having the time of her life, except for the Lakers jersey he's going to make her wear."

"I miss her," Maura admitted.

Dana gently grabbed her hand. "We know you do, sweetheart, but you'll see her in a few hours."

"I just had a thought," Kelly announced.

"You had a thought?" Pam asked sarcastically. "_You _had a thought?"

"Bitch," Kelly said jokingly. "If we're this serious about finding perfect lingerie for Maura, imagine how we're going to be when we shop for her wedding dress or book the venue."

"Jane wants to get married at Fenway Park," Maura said with a slight smile on her face. She wasn't going to admit it to her friends, but she was already fantasizing about that day.

"Why?" Kelly asked.

"Gross," Dana added. "We were thinking the Beverly Hills Hotel or the Marquesa Ballroom at the Montage."

"How about if you and Jane have a small ceremony at Fenway Park and then we host your reception over here?" Pam suggested.

"That sounds perfect," Kelly said excitedly before Maura could even respond.

"Do I have to wear a blue and red bridesmaids dress?" Dana asked. "I look horrendous in blue and red."

"You're not in it," Pam said jokingly. "We all voted on it yesterday and it was unanimous. We all thought you'd look horrible in blue and red, too."

"Whore," Dana snapped back.

Maura was well aware of the fact that Jane hadn't proposed yet and she wasn't sure when or if Jane would propose to her, but she couldn't help getting lost in the wedding plans that her friends were already making. This time around, they wouldn't just sign papers and go out to dinner. Maura now wanted a ceremony, bridesmaids, and Chloe as their flower girl.

"Bitches, who wants to see the woman I fucked last night?" Michelle asked. She was upset that the attention was off of her and she was willing to do just about anything to be in the spotlight again.

"Sure, why not," Pam told her.

"Choice piece of ass," Dana said jokingly as she looked at a picture of the woman on Michelle's phone. "What's her name?"

"How should I know?" Michelle scoffed. "I don't know the names of half off the women I sleep with. I just saw her at a party last night and thought she was hot. She's from like…not here. Katherine and I brought her home because she wanted to watch me fool around with her."

"Your wife likes to watch you have sex with other women?" Maura asked.

"Sometimes," Michelle said nonchalantly. "Other times, she brings women home and I'm not allowed in the room, but there was something different about this one. We both wanted her, so Katherine said she'd share."

"Don't even bother showing Maura," Kelly told Michelle. "All she's going to say is no woman could compare to Jane."

Maura glared at Kelly before taking the phone from her. She was slightly obsessed—okay, extremely obsessed—with Jane, but she didn't want her friends thinking she had a one-track mind. She was prepared to say something unoriginal such as, 'she's pretty,' but no amount of mental and emotional preparation was enough for whom she was about to see in the picture.


	11. Chapter 11

Maura briefly looked at the picture of a scantily clad Michelle in a suggestive position with Sam before handing the phone back to her. Although her eyes were focused on the picture for no longer than a few seconds, it was long enough for her to know whom Michelle was with. The image of Sam had been engrained in Maura's memory for the past four years and not a day went by in which she didn't cross her mind at least once. There were times when she thought about her own interactions with Sam and how she had been so taken by her. For a brief moment when Sam was in her apartment she had even let her mind wander with thoughts of a physical relationship with this woman. Then there were the times she'd think about what Sam had done to Jane and, although she didn't know who Sam was at the time, she'd mentally chastise herself for ever entertaining the thought of being with this woman. Maura may have thought about Sam over the past four years, but until that day she had felt secure in the fact that there was 2,500 miles separating her from the woman who ruined her marriage.

Maura's friends were staring at her, waiting for some type of comment on Michelle and Katherine's flavor of the week. Maura knew they were expecting her to say something about this woman being nowhere near as gorgeous as Jane and Maura wished she could say something so trivial to them, but throughout the past four years, these were the women she poured her heart out to and the ones who helped her cope with getting divorced. Although her friends would insist she didn't, Maura felt as if she'd owe them an explanation.

"She's so hot that Maura is speechless," Michelle bragged. "Do you think she's Jane's type? You should have a threesome."

Maura glared at her. "She was Jane's type fourteen years ago."

"No!" Dana gasped. She grabbed the phone from Michelle and looked at the picture once again. "Michelle, you _didn't_?"

"Didn't what?" Michelle asked. "Don't think I'm dumb, but what's this all about?"

Pam gripped Michelle's shoulders to hold her in place. "I'm only going to say this once, so it better get through to you. Michelle, you fucked _Sam_."

Michelle's eyes widened. "Maura, I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"How didn't you know?" Kelly asked. "Michelle, you need to re-evaluate your life and what you're doing."

Their conversation went on, but Maura wasn't allowed a word in edgewise. All four of them had something to say about what she should do or what Michelle should do, but nobody paused to let Maura voice her opinion on the matter. "I'm leaving," she announced. "I have to pick up Chloe."

"But her school day doesn't end for another two hours," Kelly pointed out.

"I want to be with my daughter," Maura said before turning around to leave.

Before starting her car, Maura sent a quick text message to Jane asking if she could meet her at her apartment. The message was short and very straightforward because she didn't want to alarm Jane. Physically, Sam wasn't a threat to her or to her daughter, but all Maura wanted in that moment was to be alone with Chloe and Jane. She needed the reassurance that the three of them would someday be a family and that Jane was hers and only hers.

Chloe's education was important to Maura and she had planned on never signing Chloe out early unless it was an emergency, but Maura felt as if this qualified as an emergency. When her teacher's assistant brought Chloe into the office, Maura felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Just as she had expected, her little girl came running to her with a smile on her face.

"Mommy!" Chloe said excitedly.

Maura lifted her daughter up and kissed her temple. Hearing her little girl's voice and smelling the combination of baby lotion and children's shampoo brought Maura so much comfort. "I love you," she said as she held on to Chloe.

"I love you, Mommy," Chloe responded. "Where's Jane?"

"She's with Mr. Harrington," Maura told her. "Do you miss Jane?"

"A lot," Chloe said. "She's my favorite."

"Jane is your favorite?" Maura teased.

"No, Mommy," Chloe giggled. "You're my favorite. Jane is my favorite person who isn't my mommy or my grandma. Mommy, can you marry Jane?"

Maura smiled at her daughter. She wanted to marry Jane just as badly as Chloe wanted her to marry Jane, but her daughter was far too young to understand the obstacles that she and Jane had to overcome before they could have such a commitment with each other. "Not yet," Maura said when she realized that her daughter was actually waiting for an answer.

Chloe sighed and gave her mother a frustrated look. "When?"

"Chloe Jane," Maura said in a tone of voice that Chloe was all too familiar with. It was the voice that meant she should stop what she was doing before she got in trouble, but this time Chloe was willing to push her limits.

Chloe scrunched her face and wagged her finger at her mother. "Maura Dorthea…"

"Chloe Jane," Maura repeated.

"Maura Dorthea," Chloe mimicked.

Under normal circumstances, Chloe would have been given a time out, but at that moment, Maura was in no mood to punish her little girl. "Tickle monster," Maura warned.

"No," Chloe gasped. "I'll be good. I'll be good."

Maura kept her composure for as long as she could, but the moment she sat down in her living room, she couldn't help falling apart. Chloe gave her kisses on the cheek and sat down on her lap, but Maura still couldn't stop herself from crying. This wasn't how she had wanted her daughter to see her and she began to question why she didn't let Chloe finish the remainder of her school day.

"Mommy, don't cry," Chloe said as she tried to wipe Maura's tears with a Sesame Street-printed tissue.

Chloe and Maura were too distracted to notice the sound of Jane unlocking the door with the spare key that Maura had let her borrow. Maura had been anxiously awaiting Jane's return, but she no longer had the willpower to get up and greet her as she had planned.

"Maur!" Jane said as she locked the door. "Why didn't you tell me golf was so boring? We hit a ball and then walked a quarter of a mile in one hundred degree heat before hitting a ball again."

"Mommy's crying," Chloe whispered to her.

"She's crying?" Jane asked. Had she known her girlfriend was upset, she would have said something other than a rant about golf when she entered her apartment. Maura sat on the sofa in silence, but Jane could see the tears slowly running down her cheeks. "Maur?" she called out, but there was still no answer from her. Jane kneeled in front of her girlfriend, her hands at Maura's sides.

Maura removed Jane's hands from her sides and held them between her own. "Sam is here."

"Who is Sam?" Chloe asked. "Mommy, is Sam making you cry?"

Jane turned around to face Maura's daughter. "Chloe, I need you to be a big girl."

"How?" Chloe asked.

"Your mommy and I need to talk," Jane told her. "While we're talking, can you be a big girl and play in your room until we go in there?"

"Okay," Chloe said excitedly. "And then you can tell me who Sam is."

Maura tilted her head to the side to make sure Chloe was in her room and not eavesdropping on them. When she heard the sound of Chloe's favorite cartoon, Maura knew it was safe to talk. "She'll never know who Sam is," Maura said as she intertwined her fingers with Jane's. "My little girl doesn't need to know about any of this."

"How do you know she's here?" Jane asked.

"I saw a photo of her with Michelle," Maura told her. She wanted to be closer to Jane, but she wasn't sure if she should get on the floor with her or pull her up onto the couch. She was grateful when Jane took the hint and joined her on the couch.

"Why are you friends with her?" Jane asked. When she noticed her girlfriend's reaction to her question, she removed her hands from Maura's and wrapped her arms around her. "Babe, I'm sorry."

"I don't know why I'm friends with her," Maura admitted. "She didn't know the woman was Sam. Michelle usually doesn't ask for the names of the women she has sex with and even when she does ask, she is usually too drunk to remember them."

"And you're okay with having that type of friend?" Jane asked.

Jane wanted a legitimate answer, but Maura ignored her question. "Does Sam know you're here?"

"Nobody knows I'm here," Jane responded. "All I said was that I needed to get away. I haven't seen Samantha since I confronted her at your old apartment. If my own family doesn't know I'm here, how would someone I haven't seen in four years? What did she say to Michelle?"

"Michelle doesn't remember anything they talked about," Maura said glumly.

"She's so helpful," Jane said sarcastically. "Babe, this has to be a coincidence. Maybe Sam is on vacation here or maybe she's on a business trip. She's probably on a business trip. She used to travel a lot for her firm. You and I have nothing to worry about."

"Michelle has all of my contact information in her phone," Maura pointed out.

"And?" Jane asked. "Maura, you have me here with you. I'll stay longer if it'll make you feel better. You have me and you have Chloe. The three of us are safely tucked away here. We're a little family, Maura, and she isn't going to come between us. I would do anything to protect you and Chloe."

The word 'family' hadn't gone unnoticed by Maura, but she felt as if it wasn't the right time to bring up Jane's choice of words. The thought of them being a family was what brought a smile to Maura's face for the first time since she had gotten home. "Chloe really loves you."

Jane smiled in return. "I love her, too, and I think the three of us should retreat here and spend time together as a family with no interruptions from your friends. I know you want me to get to know your friends and to make friends of my own, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here to reconnect with _you _and to get to know Chloe. There's a pool downstairs. Why don't we take her swimming? If she doesn't know how, we can teach her and splash around in the water with her. Or we can play games with her inside or color with her. There are so many things we can do, babe, and when she's in school tomorrow morning, we'll have the apartment to ourselves for a different type of reconnecting."

Maura felt her cheeks become warm. "Jane," she said before Jane leaned in and stole a kiss from her.

"Let's get our girl," Jane insisted.

Jane and Maura agreed to further discuss the situation later that evening, but for the moment Jane had managed to put Maura's mind at ease. Her—_their _—little girl was waiting for them and Maura was eager to spend the rest of the day playing with her until it was time to tuck her into bed and take turns reading her favorite story.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'm sorry for the delay in updates and I hope you'll forgive me. As a peace offering, here is some fluff. :)**

* * *

Chloe Jane Isles sat in the backseat of her mom's car, carefully running her little fingers over the solitaire diamond necklace Jane had given her. The necklace was meant to be for Maura, but the moment Jane had shown it to Chloe, she had asked to try it on. She told Jane she felt like a princess and when she asked if it was for her, Jane just couldn't say no. The diamond was from the ring Jane had given Maura over six years ago—the very ring that Maura had left on the coffee table the morning she saw the pictures of Jane and Sam. For years, that ring had served as a reminder of how her life had taken a turn for the worst, but she kept it because it had once been worn by Maura and every time she closed her eyes she was still able to remember how beautiful it had once looked on her. Regardless of how hard she tried, Jane just couldn't rid herself of that ring, so she had it made into a necklace in hopes that she would someday see that diamond on Maura once again.

Although it had been made for Maura, when Jane saw it on Chloe, she realized it was perfect for her. Chloe was everything Jane had ever wanted for the two of them. She may not have shared the same DNA as Maura, but Jane saw so much of Maura whenever she looked at her and she couldn't help loving that little girl from the start. Chloe would never know that the diamond was originally from her mom's wedding ring—she merely saw it as jewelry for a princess—and she was already Jane's little princess, so she felt as if she deserved to wear it.

After Maura had pulled into the parking lot of Chloe's preschool, Jane insisted on being the one to get Chloe out of her safety seat. The other children were walking hand-in-hand with their mom or dad, but Chloe was going to be treated to a piggyback ride or, as she called it, a 'Janieback ride.'

"You're spoiling her," Maura said as Chloe was being carried to the playground on Jane's back.

"I only have one more day left with my girl," Jane reminded Maura. "…with both of my girls."

Maura was well aware that Jane would be leaving the next day. In just slightly over twenty-four hours, the three of them would be saying their goodbyes at LAX and Jane would once again be 2500 miles away from her. Instead of being held by her or kissed by her, phone calls and Skype would have to suffice. Jane's visit had done wonders for their relationship, but five days just weren't enough for Maura—five _weeks _weren't even enough for Maura. She wanted to live under the same roof as Jane. She wanted to share a bed with her and a life with her and joyful moments with their daughter. At that point, Maura would have even settled for living in the same time zone as Jane.

"Mommy," Chloe called out. "Mommy, where's my goodbye kiss? Jane gave me one but you didn't."

Maura was brought back to reality. There'd be plenty of time to miss Jane, but for now she was going to enjoy the time she had left with her. Maura grabbed her little girl from Jane and started to give her a series of kisses on her cheeks and forehead until she noticed the new piece of jewelry around her daughter's neck. It may have taken her a second to notice it, but once she did there was no mistaking where the diamond was originally from. "Where did you get this?" she asked Chloe.

Chloe shrugged. "From Bass."

"Bass gave you a necklace?" Maura smirked. "And, sweetheart, you're scratching your neck. Is it itchy?"

"No," Chloe insisted as she lightly scratched her neck.

"Chloe, are you lying to mommy?"

"Yes," Chloe admitted. "I'm sorry, Mommy."

Jane looked at the mother-daughter pair in disbelief. "She breaks out, too?"

"Jane gave it to me," Chloe told Maura before she could even answer Jane. "It's my princess necklace and she said it's a secret. You can't know, Mommy."

It was the first big secret that Chloe and Jane had ever shared and Chloe was embarrassed for having told her mom. She tried to hide her face in Maura's shoulder, but Maura tickled her little girl until she started giggling.

"I'm sorry," Chloe told them once her giggles subsided.

"Don't be sorry," Jane insisted.

"Your mommy will always love you," Maura said as she held her daughter close. "And Jane loves you, too."

"Jane loves me?" Chloe beamed.

Jane gave Chloe yet another kiss on the cheek. "Yes, I love you! You're my only princess."

"What's Mommy?" Chloe asked. "Is Mommy a princess?"

"Your mommy is the queen," Jane responded.

When the bell rang, Chloe was reluctant to leave, but when Jane and Maura promised to take her swimming later if she was a good girl, she took off toward her classroom.

While at Chloe's school, Maura quickly said hello to her friends. They'd usually stop and chat with each other, but Maura was in no mood to engage in the topics of conversation she'd expect to have with her friends. That morning she had Jane with her and she didn't want anyone to cut into the few hours of time they had with each other.

"The diamond looks beautiful on Chloe," Maura stated when they were stuck in traffic along Sunset Boulevard.

"It looked beautiful on you, too," Jane began. "That necklace was meant for you, but once I saw it on her, I knew it was perfect for her. If we hadn't gotten a divorce, you wouldn't have Chloe. I never wanted to admit it, but something so beautiful resulted from everything we went through."

"I wanted to leave that part of my life behind me," Maura admitted. "That's why I'm over here."

Jane looked out the window at the dozens of palm trees lining the streets. "I'm sorry."

"I wanted to lave Sam behind me, not you," Maura clarified. "She's here in L.A. and—"

"So are three million other people," Jane added. "Sam is here and so are three million other people."

Maura's voice started to quiver. "I miss Boston. I thought L.A. was a way of escaping everything that had happened between us, but Michelle and Sam have shown me that there's no way of escaping what happened. You and I could run into Sam here just as easily as we can run into her over there. There's no need for me to be hiding anymore. I have you and I have Chloe. The two of you are all I'll ever need."

"Maura—"

"I want to go back with you," Maura interrupted. "Not permanently, but I want to go back with you for a week to expose Chloe to the city a bit more and see if she'd like to live there."

"Chloe or you?" Jane quipped.

They were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and it would be minutes before they moved, but Maura wasn't the least bit annoyed. She had Jane in the passenger seat and she leaned in to kiss her. What was supposed to be a single kissed turned into Maura feeling Jane's lips against hers until the sound of car horns made them realize they were now holding up traffic.

When they were stopped behind yet another row of cars, Maura slowly ran her hand along Jane's inner thighs as a preview of what she was going to get the moment they arrived at her apartment. Without a doubt in her mind, Maura was ready for Jane in every way possible.


	13. Chapter 13

Jane and Maura walked hand-in-hand from the parking lot to the elevator in the lobby of Maura's apartment building. They made small talk along the way, both trying not to sound too nervous or—even worse—too eager for what was about to happen. Jane stole the occasional glance at Maura just to make certain that this moment was real. Although slightly over four years had passed since Jane had made love to Maura, she could still recall in perfect detail every sensation that came with being so intimate with the woman she loved.

Maura fumbled with the keys as she tried to unlock the door to her apartment until Jane lovingly placed her hand on top of hers to put Maura at ease. Had any of Maura's neighbors seen her, they would have assumed she was a married woman having an affair. Their actions were reminiscent of an adulterer sneaking a mistress into a sleazy motel room—there was nervousness and guilt, but neither woman quite understood why they were feeling that way. Jane was officially Maura's girlfriend and Maura was bringing her into her apartment, the apartment that she shared with her daughter whom she hoped would someday become Jane's daughter as well. They were about to reconnect—both literally and figuratively—for the first time since before their marriage had ended, but now that they were inside Maura's apartment their anxieties from days before had resurfaced.

While in the car, both women had painted a picture in their minds about how this would happen. They'd make out in the elevator and, in a fit of passion, they'd remove each other's clothes before reaching Maura's bedroom, but their reality was far from what they had imagined. Jane's back was against the wall and Maura was leaning against her—practically clinging to Jane as if her life depended on her. Now in the privacy of her own home, Maura felt as if she were able to show her emotions to Jane. There was no crying and not a single word exchanged, but with the way Jane wrapped her arms around her in turn, Maura knew Jane understood her anxieties and wanted nothing more than to give her all of the comfort she needed.

"I don't want a repeat of what happened the day you arrived," Maura finally admitted.

"There was nothing wrong with what happened that day," Jane insisted. "I kissed you, spent time with Chloe, kissed you some more, and then fell asleep holding you. Minus being on a plane for five hours, I consider that the perfect day."

Jane's comment was meant to make Maura smile, but instead she rested her head on Jane's shoulder. "You're not the last woman I made love to," Maura reminded her. "And that bothers me more than you'll ever know."

"I know I'm not," Jane pointed out. "And what I've never told you is how many times I pictured you with her after I read that text message, but that was four years ago and we've found our way back to each other and I know we can't erase what happened, but we've already taken a step forward by becoming a couple again. Maura, I don't want to get back to the way we were. I want us to be even better. We have Chloe this time around and, although it'll take time, I can see the three of us becoming a family. I'll raise her here with you or we can get a place together in Boston. I don't care, Maura. For the first time, I don't care where I am. I just want to spend every day with the two of you."

Maura had wanted to respond by telling Jane just how much she loved her and how grateful she was to have her in her life again, but instead she planted a chaste kiss on Jane's lips that soon escalated to so much more. Jane wasn't sure if it was her words that had enabled Maura to overcome her anxieties, but she hoped it was for the sheer fact that putting Maura at ease put _her _at ease. Jane had become so lost in the moment that she had failed to notice that—while Maura's lips were pressed against hers—her hands were roaming other parts of Jane's body. She tugged at the hem of Jane's shirt as an indicator that she wanted it removed and Jane offered little resistance.

Jane wasn't given a chance to remove Maura's dress until they had entered her room and, even then, Jane removed it slowly rather than passionately for fear of ruining the fabric. When they were married, Jane had ruined more than one of Maura's dresses, but as a newly-reunited couple she wasn't about to test her limits. Jane watched as Maura neatly hung her dress back in her closet and placed her panties inside her hamper. Her naked girlfriend was occupying herself with the smallest details as Jane lied on top of her bed, almost overwhelmed with the beautiful sight before her.

"We'll take it slow," Jane promised. She had meant it with complete sincerity, so she was taken aback when Maura started laughing.

"Jane, we're not losing our virginity," Maura pointed out. "We haven't forgotten how to have sex. We just need to remember how to have sex with _each other_."

As Jane held on to the woman lying next to her, she tried to take in the very essence of Maura. She was the same woman she had once made love to every night, yet she was also so very different. Physical features like her hair color and her freckles were the same save for a tiny wrinkle on the corner of her eyes that Jane consider to be one of the most adorable features she had ever seen on any woman. Jane, herself, had also aged, but she knew there was just something about forty that looked beautiful on Maura.

"You have that same look in your eyes," Jane pointed out.

Maura intertwined her fingers with Jane's. "Which look?"

"The look you gave me the first time we made love as a married couple," Jane responded. "It's like you're filled with so much hope for us."

"I went without being with a woman for four years," Maura began. "My friends judged me for it, but it was because I held on to the hope that I would someday be with you again. I saved myself for you."

Her girlfriend had given her all the reassurance she needed and, that morning, Jane and Maura made love to each other for the first time in four years. There was no experimenting as there had been when they were married; it was slow and sensual and better than anything they had experienced in the past because there were so many years of love and longing behind their actions.

There were two hours left until Maura had to pick Chloe up from school and, as Jane's last full day in Los Angeles, they could have spent that time exploring the city, but all they wanted was to lie in bed with each other. There were mornings during their marriage when they'd fall asleep from exhaustion after making love and Maura hoped that morning would be no different for them. As a precaution Maura grabbed her phone from on top of her nightstand and set her alarm so they'd wake up in time to shower before picking Chloe up from school. With her alarm set and a list prepared of everything she'd need to make dinner for her daughter and girlfriend, Maura cuddled up to Jane in bed feeling as if everything was finally as it should be.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry about the delay in updates. Those of you who are still interested despite the delay are so very, very awesome.**

* * *

The alarm on Maura's phone had woken her up in time for her to shower and get dressed before picking Chloe up from school, but Jane barely even stirred. Maura debated waking her up, but Jane lying naked and fast asleep in her bed was a sight Maura hadn't seen in years. Her dark curls were splayed out on the pillow and the comforter reached high enough to just barely cover her breasts. The placement of the comforter seemed almost strategic and Maura wondered if Jane had meant to cover herself so fully and whether it was a sign that she was still somewhat nervous about being so exposed in front of Maura. Maura was both her girlfriend and her ex-wife and she wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Jane was still hesitant. They had made love all morning, but now that reality had set in for Maura she remembered they weren't a married couple and Jane wasn't asleep in _their _bed.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as she looked at Jane. And she _was _sorry. They had both wanted to put the past behind them, but Maura knew there was a better solution. She would take what happened to them in the past and, instead of dwelling on it, she'd learn from it and she hoped Jane would, too. They'd no longer cry over their divorce and all of the heartache that came with it. Instead, they'd focus on Chloe and their future together. In time, she wanted to be Jane's wife and she couldn't wait to give Jane the best of her and, although she hadn't thought it was possible before, she now loved Jane even more than she had when they were married.

She had waited four years for Jane and Jane had waited four years for her. With nothing other than a slight glimmer of hope that they would someday be reunited, Maura remained faithful to her and they had been brought together by chance.

For four years Maura had gone without and, as she was reflecting on her morning with Jane while she was in the shower, she knew waiting had made the experience even more satisfying for them. It wasn't just sex. What she had experienced was a way of reconnecting with the woman she loved, the woman she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Jane was still the same woman she had fallen in love with all those years ago, but making love to her was a new experience for Maura. Jane had become more possessive as they made love. She was afraid of losing her again and it was up to Maura to reassure her that she was hers to keep. Jane's techniques were the same but the orgasm brought on by the strokes from Jane's skilled tongue was unlike any she had ever experienced. As she reached orgasm, Maura let go of not only four years of sexual tension but also four years of longing and loneliness. The thought of it was enough to arouse her again and make her anxious to be in bed with Jane that night.

Maura's goodbye kiss on her cheek was what finally brought Jane out of her deep sleep. "I was going to pick up Chloe with you," Jane mumbled.

Maura's intentions were to kiss Jane's temple, but Jane pulled her down onto the bed, so she could kiss her lips one last time before she left. As they kissed, Maura could still taste the slightest hint of herself on Jane's lips and on her tongue. "I let you sleep so you'd have energy for later."

There were no further questions asked. Jane knew exactly what Maura wanted from her that night.

Maura had already sent an email to Chloe's teacher about her upcoming absences, so her intentions when she arrived at Chloe's preschool were to pick up her daughter and quickly run some errands before returning home to Jane. She was eager to tell Pam what she had experienced with Jane, but talking to Pam meant talking to Michelle, so Maura figured it was best to tell her about Jane and going to Boston during a phone call later that afternoon or the next day.

They engaged in brief conversation, but Maura didn't need to say a single word about that morning for Pam to know what had happened. "You're glowing," Pam brought to her attention. "Jane must have really outdone herself."

"Jane is phenomenal in bed," Maura responded. She had tried not to blush, but the more she thought about being with Jane that morning, the more her cheeks started to redden.

"Congratulations," Pam laughed. "Wait'll I tell the girls that our Maura got laid after four very long years."

"Can I call you later?" Maura asked. "I don't want to be rude, but Jane is waiting for me."

"Say no more," Pam insisted. "After four years, you two have a lot to catch up on."

Maura was surprised to see Jane sitting on the couch in a bikini top and a pair of athletic shorts when she arrived at home. "Why are you in a bathing suit, Jane?" Chloe asked.

"Because we're going swimming," Jane responded.

"Swimming?" Maura asked. "Jane, there's so much I have to do before tomorrow."

"I know," Jane told her as she picked up Maura's daughter. "That's why I'm taking this little one off your hands for a few hours. You get time to pack and I get time with Chloe. When we get out of the pool, Chloe and I will help you with dinner."

As Maura began to kiss Jane, Chloe immediately covered her eyes. "No kissing on the lips."

So she wouldn't have to witness them any longer, little Chloe ran over to her room to look for her bathing suit. She had attempted to dress herself, but when she couldn't get her shirt over her head, she frantically called for Jane and Maura to help her.

The pool was unusually empty for a warm day, much to Jane's relief. She had wanted a peaceful and fun afternoon with Chloe without other kids jumping in and splashing all around them. Chloe wasn't afraid of being in the water, but she still couldn't swim without her floaties, so Jane made sure her floaties were securely on her arms and they stayed in the shallow end.

"Chloe, I have something to tell you," Jane tried to say as lighthearted as she could.

"What?" Chloe asked. She knew Jane was going to say something important, so she doggie-paddled her way over to her as quickly as she could.

Jane playfully grabbed Chloe and wrapped her up in her arms. "You and your mommy are going home with me tomorrow."

"Forever?" Chloe asked.

"Not forever," Jane informed her. "But, just for a little while."

"Okay," Chloe said nonchalantly. "Can we play now?"

Jane and Chloe played in the water for a couple of hours before Jane heard her phone start to ring.

"It's your mommy," Jane told her. "It's time for us to make dinner."

"Five more minutes," Chloe pleaded.

She hadn't known Maura's little girl for very long, but she already couldn't refuse the pleading look on her face. "Five more minutes," Jane responded as she sent Maura a text message.

"Can you marry my mommy now?" Chloe asked when Jane was back in the water with her.

"Soon," Jane promised. "But that's our secret, okay? You can't tell your mommy."

Chloe pretended to zip her lips. "I won't tell Mommy."

"That's my girl," Jane responded. "I'll even let you help me when I propose to her. We'll make everything special for her."

As Jane helped her dry off five minutes later, Chloe wrapped her little arms around Jane. "I can't wait until you're my mommy, too."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I decided to do something a little different and dedicate the second part of the chapter to showing Jane and Maura from Chloe's perspective. Let me know what you think. I'd greatly appreciate it. :)**

* * *

Getting Chloe to fall asleep the night before their trip had taken longer than Jane and Maura had expected. Maura had already packed clothes and toys for her daughter while she was in the pool with Jane, but Chloe insisted on opening her luggage and inspecting its contents for herself. Maura was pleased with how responsible her daughter had become, but when she saw Chloe carelessly grab the clothes she had packed and unfold them, she put a stop to it. Chloe wasn't a disobedient child, so Maura realized her daughter was just stalling for time.

"Chloe Jane," Maura said sternly as she refolded and repacked Chloe's luggage.

Chloe covered her face with her hands in an attempt at hiding her embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Mommy."

"We know you're excited about getting on a plane tomorrow," Jane told her. "But tomorrow will come a lot faster if you get some sleep."

Chloe made her way over to Jane so she could sit on her lap and look her directly in the eyes. "No," Chloe said as she tapped a finger to Jane's nose.

"Chloe Jane," Maura repeated.

"Maura Dorthea," Chloe mimicked.

Maura leaned in to kiss her daughter's cheek. Instead of a single kiss, Maura repeatedly kissed Chloe's cheek and, without a warning, Jane joined in by kissing her other cheek. "We're not going to stop until you go to bed," Jane pointed out.

After nearly a minute, Chloe surrendered. Their kisses were tickling her cheeks and she couldn't stop giggling. "I'll go to bed. I'll go to bed."

* * *

Chloe had told them she'd go to bed, but she hadn't promised them she'd actually fall asleep. As she was lying down, her mind became flooded with questions that she wanted to ask her mommy and Jane. Chloe knew Boston was far and a week was a long time to be gone, so she began to worry about the arrangements that had been made. Would she get in trouble for missing school? Who would feed Bass? Was her mom going to marry Jane anytime soon? The questions were becoming too overwhelming for her and Chloe knew she wouldn't be able to sleep if she didn't have answers.

She looked over at the couch on the other side of her bedroom and saw her mommy sitting so close to Jane that there was absolutely no space in between them. Instead of her arms at her sides, she was hugging Jane and resting her head on Jane's shoulder. Chloe couldn't quite comprehend what was happening, but her mommy looked happier than she had ever seen her look before.

Chloe had never told anybody, but there were times when she'd get out of bed in the middle of the night and see her mommy crying in the living room. She wondered why her mom was crying, but she could never bring herself to ask, so she'd go back to her room and try to fall asleep. As much as she tried, Chloe could never fall asleep when her mommy cried. She'd think about all of the times that she, herself, cried and it would happen whenever she hurt herself or when she wanted to go home because she missed her mommy. Chloe didn't see any cuts on her mommy when she cried so she knew it wasn't because she had scraped her knee or gotten an owwie. Her second guess was that her mommy missed _her _mommy. _Maybe this isn't home, _Chloe would think. _Maybe home is in Boston because that's where we visit Grandma. Maybe Mommy misses Grandma. _

After months of guessing, Chloe could never figure out why her mommy cried, but that night in her room she realized her mommy wasn't sad. When Jane hugged her, she was happy and, when Jane kissed her, she was even happier. Chloe never doubted that she brought happiness to her mommy's life, but what she was witnessing was a different kind of happiness—a kind of happiness that she knew only Jane could bring out in her. As she watched the two of them cuddling on the couch, Chloe felt as if she was watching a fairy tale unfold right in front of her. Her mommy was a beautiful princess who was sad until a handsome prince came to their castle and the two of them fell in love and lived happily ever after.

Chloe knew Jane was a woman, so she couldn't exactly be a prince and her mommy was a medical examiner and not a princess, but in that moment they were Prince Jane and Princess Maura and their apartment in Beverly Hills was a castle.

Before she started school, Chloe had asked her grandma why her friend Jayden had two mommies and her friend Mackenzie had a mommy and a daddy. Her grandma told her that some women fall in love with men and some fall in love with women, but when she asked why she only had one mommy instead of two mommies or a mommy and a daddy, her grandma either wasn't sure how to explain or didn't want to explain. She gave her a quick, simple answer, but it still didn't satisfy Chloe's curiosity.

When she saw her mommy and Jane kiss, she knew her mommy was a woman who fell in love with other women and she couldn't wait for her to fall in love with Jane so she could have two mommies. As Jane smiled at her mommy, she remembered the talk they had earlier about Jane wanting to marry her mommy and she became even more excited than before.

"Jane, can you marry my mommy now?" Chloe asked. "I want two mommies and I want a baby brother or sister." She had meant for her question to be serious, so she wondered why her mommy and Jane had started to laugh.

"Your mommy and I really love each other," Jane began. "But—"

"But what?" Chloe interrupted. "You're like a handsome prince and my mommy is a beautiful princess and you two are supposed to get married and live happily ever after. When you marry someone, it lasts forever and that means you'll be happy forever." She noticed her mommy and Jane look at each other and, for the first time, both of them looked sad.

"Let's talk about our trip tomorrow," Jane changed the subject. "What do you want to do when we get to Boston?"

"Everything!" Chloe responded. "But what about Bass? Who is going to feed Bass? He's going to be hungry."

"Mr. Turner is going to take care of Bass," her mommy informed her. "Do you remember how he took good care of Bass during our last trip?"

"Yes," Chloe nodded. "Bass likes him."

"Bass likes him a lot," her mommy told her. She noticed her mommy looked happy again and that put her mind at ease. "If you're a good girl and go to sleep, I'll let you give Bass a strawberry before we leave."

"Okay, Mommy," Chloe beamed. She wasn't feeling tired, but if falling asleep meant she'd be able to give Bass a treat in the morning, she was more than willing to try.

Chloe had instantaneously fallen asleep, but when she woke up an hour later she noticed her mommy and Jane were no longer on the couch. "Mommy," she called out, but there was no response. Their apartment was quiet except for the sound of Bass moving in the living room.

Chloe wasn't afraid to sleep in her room, but there were nights when she wanted to sleep next to her mommy and that night was no different. She quickly got out of bed and petted Bass's shell before standing in the doorway of her mommy's room. When she saw Jane sleeping next to her mommy and holding her, Chloe couldn't stop smiling.

She knew she'd wake them up, but Chloe grabbed her step stool and climbed onto her mommy's bed.

"Chloe," Jane mumbled. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"Shh," Chloe put her finger to her lips. "We'll wake Mommy."

But her mommy had already woken up. "Come here," her mommy said as pulled the covers down just low enough for her to get in.

The moment Chloe made herself comfortable underneath the covers, both her mommy and Jane wrapped their arms around her. "I love you," her mommy whispered. "Both of you."

That night, Chloe fell asleep safely tucked away in bed with her mommy and the woman she hoped would soon become her mommy and, when she woke up the next morning, they were still holding onto her and each other.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thank you so much for the feedback and I hope you enjoy this chapter. :)**

* * *

While Jane had taken Chloe swimming the day before, Maura had packed her luggage and made all of the necessary arrangements for their trip. Chloe had been bathed before going to bed, so after accompanying Jane in the shower that morning, all Maura had to do was fix breakfast for her daughter and her girlfriend and finish her usual morning hair and makeup routine.

Chloe had fallen asleep during the cab ride to the airport and she became fussy when it was time for Jane and Maura to wake her up. When she stepped out of the cab, she began to cry and stomp her feet. It was the first time Jane had seen her truly misbehave and she was taken by surprise when other travelers at the airport began to stare at Chloe and give Maura disapproving looks for not being able to control her daughter.

"Hold me!" Chloe yelled in a high-pitched voice. "Hold me!"

When Maura wrapped her arms around her, Chloe freed herself from her embrace and hurried over to Jane. "Chloe, don't you want Mommy?" Jane asked in a sweet tone of voice that was reserved only for Chloe.

"No!" Chloe screamed. "Jane! Hold me!"

Jane worried about Maura's feelings being hurt, so as she held Chloe with one arm she wrapped her other arm around Maura. "Jane, I'm fine," Maura insisted. "Chloe thinks you're leaving her and if you're holding her you can't leave."

They were standing in the terminal and they still had to check in their luggage and go through the security checkpoint, but all of that had to wait because, at that moment, Jane's main concern was Chloe. "Chloe, I'm not leaving you. We're all getting on the plane together like we talked about."

Chloe's crying had finally ceased and she rested her head on Jane's shoulder. "You promise?"

"I promise."

Chloe tightened her hold on Jane. "This isn't a trick?"

"No," Jane promised. "This isn't a trick. I promise you and your mommy are getting on the plane with me and I'm never going to break a promise to you."

Although she was touched by the close relationship her girlfriend and her daughter were developing, Maura worried about Chloe becoming too attached to Jane. Jane had said she'd never break a promise to her, but Maura doubted the sincerity behind what Jane had just told her daughter. She knew Jane would never intentionally break a promise to Chloe, but over the course of her visit she had spoiled Chloe and gotten her used to the idea of having two moms around at all times. The three of them would soon be on their way to Boston to spend another week with Jane, but Maura worried about the repercussions of their visit. She'd get another week with the woman she loved and Chloe would spend another week getting to know Jane, but getting to know Jane meant getting more attached to Jane and Maura worried about her daughter not wanting to leave Boston and the possibility of her crying at night when they returned to Los Angeles.

"We need to have a talk when we get to Boston," Maura said as she gathered their luggage.

"We do," Jane responded before turning to Chloe. "Mommy and I need you to be a big girl and wheel your luggage."

"Okay," Chloe said happily. She may have been throwing a tantrum earlier, but when asked she'd go out of her way to prove she was a big girl. Chloe strapped her backpack to her back and wheeled her child-sized luggage. Jane opted to carry the majority of Maura's luggage so Maura could hold her daughter's hand. Instead of walking alongside them, Jane stayed a few steps behind so she could admire the mother/daughter pair. She was still patching up her relationship with Maura, but as far as Jane was concerned Chloe and Maura were her family and with them was where she belonged.

"Jane?" Maura turned around and smiled at her.

It was merely a smile, but that smile had reaffirmed Jane's position: Chloe and Maura were her family and they loved her just as much as she loved them.

The flight to Boston had gone smoothly and they spent the majority of the time entertaining Chloe. They read her favorite books to her, talked to her and, when she fell asleep on Maura's lap, Jane and Maura spent the rest of the flight talking to each other. Their conversations mainly consisted of small talk while holding each other's hands, but it was what they needed to mentally and emotionally prepare themselves for the talk they were going to have later that night.

When they arrived in Boston, Maura was surprised to learn that Jane was living in an apartment that was very similar to the one she had lived in before they were married. The décor was the same right down to the sports memorabilia and it warmed Maura's heart to know that some things never changed.

"Welcome to my crappy little apartment," Jane said as they set their luggage down. "There's only one bedroom, so Chloe will have to sleep with us."

"She won't mind," Maura insisted and she knew Chloe wouldn't mind in the slightest bit. She was going to be in an apartment she had never slept in before and it would give Chloe comfort to have both her mommy and her future mommy with her.

"Mommy, I'm going to Jane's bed," Chloe said as she took off to find Jane's bedroom.

"No," Jane chased after her.

"She just wants to take a nap," Maura insisted, but her words went unnoticed.

Jane had hoped to stop Chloe before she entered her bedroom, but it was too late. The moment Chloe entered Jane's bedroom, she saw a framed photograph that caught her eye. Jane's intentions were to visit Maura in Los Angeles and return to her apartment alone. If there was a chance Maura and Chloe were to return with her, she had planned on tidying up beforehand even if it was just spending a couple of minutes to hide some of her possessions while Maura took Chloe to use the restroom.

"Mommy?" Chloe asked as she handed a framed photograph to Maura. "Why are you in this picture with Jane? Were you two playing wedding day?"

Jane and Maura didn't have a wedding per se but there was a single photograph of them holding a handmade sign with the words, '_Just Married_' written on it.

"Jane, you kept this?" Maura asked in disbelief. "You kept our picture."

"There's one of just you on my nightstand," Jane said as she pointed to another framed photograph. "There's some more that I keep in a box. I didn't have the heart to get rid of them. Getting rid of them meant getting rid of what we had."

"What did you have?" Chloe asked.

"Love," Maura responded while she looked at Jane.

Her daughter was still waiting for a legitimate answer, but all Maura wanted in that moment was to be held by Jane. There were still photographs of the two of them that Jane had held onto for all these years and, as she looked at where her daughter was sitting, she noticed a familiar piece of furniture. The comforter and pillows were different, but Chloe Jane Isles was sitting on her mom and Jane's marital bed.

If Jane had saved photographs and their bed, Maura began to wonder what else she had saved. They had planned on having a talk, but that would have to wait. Instead, Maura grabbed Jane's hand and led her to the bed where they soon fell asleep with Chloe for the rest of the afternoon. It was everything Maura had wanted: their bed, her daughter, and the woman she loved.


End file.
